IX*" 


•BBBHH 


H,-  ^=- -r 

^pr  mm =,:«•••• 


Nika  tikeh  nika  ole  tilikums. 

Nika  tikeh  nika  chee  tilikums. 

Pee  ole  tikeh  elip  hyas  markook  kopa  konaway. 


A  Romance  of  the  Sawtooth 


A 

Romance  of  the 
Sawtooth 


By  OGAL  ALLA 

Author  of  Blue  Eye,  Etc. 


Published  and  for  sale  by  the  author,  Nampa,  Idaho 

Sent  post  paid  on  receipt  of  $1.00 

if  your  book  store  can 

not  supply  you 


Copyrighted  1917  by  F.  G.  Mock 


PI ESS  OF 

SYMS-YORK  COMPANY 


J/2*  7 

Bancroft  Library 


o 

o 


To 


This  Book 

Is  Affectionately 

Dedicated 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

I — On   the   Salmon   River 13 

II— Redwolf  Jess  Talks  Marriage 19 

III — As  to  Claim  Jumping 29 

IV— I  Will  Love  You  Always— And  Wait 39 

V— The  Storm  on  the  Sawtooth 51 

VI— Safe  With  Aunt  Nannie 61 

VII — Looking  for   Kidnappers 71 

VIII— Chip  Chip  In   Playful   Mood 85 

IX— The  Big  Fight 101 

X— The  Trial— Then  Good  Bye  to  the 

Sawtooth    115 

XI— Mysterious  Valley   131 

XII— The  Lord's  Prayer  in  Chinook..  .   147 


INTRODUCTION 

"To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given, 
even  'o  trouble,  for,  when  opportunity 
comes  our  way  an'  we  grab  hold  o'  the 
tail  o'  the  Golden  Calf,  there  is  usually 
a  very  pretty  race  'til  the  Calf  gits 
away." 

In  this  story  you  will  find  characters 
— men  and  women — that  you  will  rec 
ognize  as  your  neighbors  and  friends, 
and  will  of  course  love  them.  They  are 
those  kindly,  generous,  western  people, 
who,  not  only  helped  blaze  the  trails, 
but  have  "grown  up  with  the  country," 
along  with  their  children.  The  bad 
men — yes,  there  were  bad  men  in  Idaho 
in  early  days,  and  there  are  some  here 
yet,  but  not  many.  So  then,  you  will 
not  have  to  go  to  Mysterious  Valley  to 
find  people  like  Uncle  Henry  and  Aunt 
Mary,  Uncle  John  and  Aunt  Lucy, 

11 


Kuna  and  Oneida,  Chip  Chip  and  Becca, 
Aunt  Nannie  and  Jim  Worth,  for  as  I 
stated  above,  they  are  our  neighbors 
and  friends  and  live  all  about  us.  Per 
haps  I  should  modify  that  statement  a 
little,  and  will,  so  far  as  it  relates  to 
Jim  Worth;  there  is  only  one  of  him, 
but  a  neighbor  and  friend  to  all,  just 
the  same. 

My  thanks  are  due  and  are  hereby 
extended  to  Gill  &  Co.,  Portland,  Ore 
gon,  publishers  of  Gill's  Dictionary  of 
the  Chinook  Jargon,  for  permission  to 
reproduce  the  Lord's  Prayer,  as  it  ap 
pears  in  the  last  chapter. 

To  those  dear  old  Pioneers,  whose 
reminiscences  I  have  worked  over  into 
this  story,  I  can  only  say,  I  thank  you. 
You  have  been  neglected,  but  you  will 
yet  "come  into  your  own,"  for  the  place 
in  history  that  is  yours  will  be  given 
you. 

THE  AUTHOR. 
12 


A  Romance  of  the 
Sawtooth 

i 

ON  THE  SALMON  RIVER 
Over  on  the  Salmon  River,  in  Central 
Idaho,  is  a  little  settlement  composed  of 
big  hearted  mountaineers,  whose  "tales 
of  adventure  listen  like  the  impossible." 
But  after  being  with  them  a  short  time, 
you  realize  that  they  are  just  plain,  old- 
fashioned,  honest,  truthful,  well-to-do 
people.  They  are  not  looking  for  noto 
riety,  they  are  shunning  it,  for  the  only 
way  I  could  get  their  story  was  to  prom 
ise  not  to  give  the  exact  location  of 
their  homes  and  not  to  mention  their 
real  names.  Several  of  the  older  mem 
bers  have  "crossed  over,"  this  being  the 
way  they  speak  of  those  who  have  died. 
But  the  story  of  their  hardships  has 
been  handed  down,  and  so  impressed  on 

13 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

the  minds  of  the  children,  that  they  too 
seem  to  suffer,  and,  really  live  those 
exciting  days  they  never  saw,  nor  never 
will  see.  They  think  they  know  what 
the  old  Pioneers  had  to  endure  in  chang 
ing  that  little  valley  from  a  dreary 
waste  to  one  of  pretty  homes,  cut  off 
from  civilization  as  they  were,  but  it 
all  came  to  them  by  word  of  mouth 
instead  of  the  real,  actual  experience. 
And  the  children  have  heard  the  story 
so  often,  it  is  as  vivid  to  them  as  though 
they  had  helped  blaze  the  trails  and 
took  part  in  the  fighting. 

John  Bruneau  and  his  wife  were 
among  the  early  settlers  in  this  little 
valley.  When  their  daughter,  Oneida, 
was  four  years  old  she  was  kidnapped 
by  a  band  of  renegade  Indians  and  car 
ried  away.  These  Indians  had  given 
the  settlers  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  be 
ing  what  we  would  call  Gipsies.  They 

14 


ON  THE  SALMON  RIVER 

spent  their  time  wandering  about.  In 
summer  they  would  be  up  in  the  Idaho 
mountains;  in  winter  they  would  be 
somewhere  down  the  Columbia  River. 
For  seven  years  Oneida  lived  and  wan 
dered  about  with  these  Indians,  but  they 
treated  her  well,  even  sending  her  to 
one  of  the  old  Missions  to  school,  Her 
parents  sold  their  stock,  and  mortgaged 
the  old  homestead  to  get  money  to  hunt 
for  their  little  girl,  so  when  she  re 
turned,  as  mysteriously  as  she  had  left, 
her  parents  were  bankrupt,  but  of 
course  very  happy  to  know  their  girl 
was  alive  and  with  them  again.  Just 
how  she  made  her  escape,  and  who  as 
sisted  her,  was  not  known  by  the  people 
of  the  Valley  'til  some  years  later. 

Henry  Thomas  and  family  were 
neighbors  of  the  Bruneau's  and  had 
helped  in  the  hunt  for  Oneida.  Their 
own  children  had  all  "crossed  over," 

15 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

except  Kuna,  Kuna  Tom,  as  he  was 
called  and  is  to  be  known.  He  was 
about  three  years  older  than  Oneida,  so 
they  were  playmates — yes,  lovers — 
from  the  time  Oneida  had,  as  she  put  it, 
"made  her  escape  from  the  Indians." 
She  had  been  with  a  dozen  different 
tribes,  and  of  course  had  learned  much 
of  their  jargon.  She  taught  this  jargon 
to  Kuna,  and  he  helped  her  some  with 
the  few  old  school  books  he  had,  for 
school  houses  were  not  as  numerous  in 
those  days  as  they  are  now.  When  she 
was  seventeen  arrangements  were  made 
to  send  her  to  Boise  to  school,  but  just 
how  the  expense  would  be  met  they  did 
not  know. 

"HI  help  ye  some  girlie,"  said  Kuna, 
when  it  was  finally  decided  to  let  her  go. 
And  he  did.  He  soon  went  to  work  for 
the  K  0  Company,  a  big  cow  outfit,  over 
on  the  Malad.  When  he'd  get  a  pay 

16 


ON  THE  SALMON  RIVER 

check,  part  of  it  went  to  Oneida  and  the 
rest  to  his  parents.  He  only  kept 
enough  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  trip 
each  year  to  the  Sawtooth,  for  he  had 
located  a  mining  claim  near  the  head 
of  the  Salmon  River,  and  would  go  up 
there  to  do  the  assessment  work. 

But  we  must  leave  this  Valley  now — 
Mysterious  Valley,  it  is  called  by  many, 
for  those  who  are  just  a  little  supersti 
tious  will  take  you  around  behind  a  tree 
and  talk  in  whispers,  if  they  talk  at  all, 
about  the  name  and  the  Indian  legend 
which  has  become  attached  to  that  part 
of  the  country.  Just  now  we  are  inter 
ested  more  in  the  people  than  the  mys 
tery,  for  it  has  to  do  with  the  com 
munity  only,  so  as  I  have  said,  we  will 
leave  it  for  a  time.  Later  you  shall 
know,  then  you  can  judge  for  yourself 
whether  the  Valley  has  been  rightly 
named,  for  we  shall  visit  it  again,  some 
time. 

17 


II 

REDWOLF  JESS  TALKS 

MARRIAGE 

"Now  look  here,  Kuna,  this'll  make 
three  times  I've  tole  ye  to  git  out  o'  this- 
yer  mountain,  so  I  give  ye  fair  warnin'. 
I've  jumped  yer  claim,  set  up  new 
stakes,  done  the  'sessment  work  an'  re 
corded  the  proof.  Ye  aint  got  no  rights 
'at  the  Grabber  Minin'  Company  is 
bound  to  respect,  f  er  yer  location  papers 
aint  made  out  right  nohow.  Besides, 
our  Peacock  claim  allus  did  overlap  yer 
Wild  Hoss  claim,  an'  ye  know  it,  even  if 
ye  did  locate  fust.  So  then,  ye  might 
as  well  vamoose  an'  go  back  to  punchin' 
cows.  Oneida  don't  like  ye  anymore, 
nohow,  f  er  she  tells  me  this  at  breakfast 
this  mo'nin'.  She  ruther  tie  up  with  a 
man  as  has  a  big  salary  an'  money  in 
the  bank  than  a  pauper  like  ye  air. 

19 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

Hear  me  now  an'  git  out  an'  stay  out. 
We  got  a  cinch  on  thisyer  claim  an'  we 
air  a  goin'  to  hoi'  it." 

The  spokesman  was  a  man  known  as 
Redwolf  Jess,  foreman  of  the  Grabber 
Mining  Company,  owners  of  a  group  of 
mining  claims  near  the  summit  of  the 
Sawtooth,  and  not  far  from  the  old  town 
of  Vienna.  They  had  a  little  mill  over 
on  the  Salmon  River  side  of  the  moun 
tain,  some  distance  from  the  mine.  Red 
had  "done  time,"  so  it  was  said,  for  kill 
ing  old  Sam  Smiley,  the  owner  of  the 
famous  Peacock  claim.  Red  had  tried 
to  drive  him  out  of  the  country,  but  he 
refused  to  be  bluffed.  But  after  Old 
Sam  had  been  missing  for  some  weeks, 
a  deed  appeared  of  record,  conveying 
his  Peacock  claim  to  the  Grabber  Min 
ing  Company.  The  evidence  was  cir 
cumstantial,  but  Red  was  "sent  over  the 
road"  for  a  short  time,  and  later  "broke 

20 


REDWOLF  TALKS  MARRIAGE 

into  the  Pen"  a  second  time  for  holding 
up  the  Ketchum- Yellow  Jacket  stage. 
He  was  a  powerful  man,  stood  six  foot 
two,  and  weighed  about  two  hundred 
and  forty  pounds.  His  hair  was  red, 
and  his  face  matched  it  for  color.  He 
had  small,  piercing  brown  eyes  that 
looked  out  from  under  heavy,  overhang 
ing  eyebrows.  A  scar,  that  he  jokingly 
referred  to  as  "a  mark  o'  respect,"  ex 
tended  from  the  corner  of  his  left  eye 
down  across  his  cheek.  It  was  surmised 
that  Old  Sam  Smiley  gave  him  that  and 
would  have  "got  him,"  but  a  big  heavy 
coat  with  collar  turned  up,  saved  him. 
Red  had  many  aliases,  but  the  one  he 
was  known  by  in  the  Sawtooth,  he  told 
some  of  the  boys,  suited  him  best.  He 
explained  that  he  got  the  idea  for  the 
name  from  a  bunch  of  cowboys  that  he 
heard  singing,  "0,  I'm  a  She  Wolf  an' 
It's  My  Night  to  Howl."  But  "no  fe- 

21 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

male  of  the  species"  for  him ;  he'd  make 
it  "Redwolf",  for  his  hair  and  general 
appearance  would  justify  such  a  name. 
And,  besides,  it  helped  him  with  his 
bluffs.  He  stood  well  with  the  company 
on  account  of  his  record.  When  they 
decided  that  a  certain  claim  would  in 
crease  the  value  of  their  holdings,  they 
set  about  getting  it,  and  often  secured 
title  without  the  formality  of  buying  it. 
So,  then,  Red  was  given  a  free  hand  in 
such  matters.  He  was  now  trying  to 
drive  Kuna  Tom  out  of  the  country  so 
he  could  jump  his  claim,  and  he  had 
also  decided  that  was  about  the  only 
way  he  could  win  Oneida.  He  had  not 
spoken  to  her  about  this,  however.  He 
would  take  her  when  the  time  came,  all 
in  his  own  good  way.  Of  course  he 
would  try  coaxing,  and  make  love  to  her 
in  the  proper  way  if  she  would  allow 
him  to,  but  after  all,  it  did  not  matter 

22 


REDWOLF  TALKS  MARRIAGE 

so  much.  He  would  simply  take  her, 
that  was  all  there  was  to  it.  But  Kuna 
did  not  bluff  worth  a  cent,  he  told  him 
self,  as  he  walked  back  down  the  moun 
tain. 

"But  I'll  git  him.  They  aint  no  use 
fer  him  a  stickin'  out  agin  me.  I  kinda 
want  that  Wild  Hoss  claim  myself,  an' 
that  means  I'm  a  goin'  to  git  it.  The 
dam  fool  had  the  nerve  to  say  I'd  hafter 
buy  it.  Huh !  He  must  think  I'm  easy. 
'An'  you'll  pay  a  good  stiff  price  fer  it, 
too,'  he  says,  jist  as  if  I  was  in  the  habit 
o'  payin'  fer  minin'  claims.  The  pore 
simp  is  to  be  pitied.  He  don't  know 
nuthin'  about  minin';  all  he  knows  is 
punchin'  cows,  an'  I'll  be  doin'  him  a 
kin'ness  to  send  him  back  to  his  favor 
ite  oc'pashion,  er  kill  'im  off," 

So  with  his  mind  filled  with  such 
thoughts,  and  an  occasional  glimpse  at 
himself,  he  reached  the  boarding  house 

23 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

and  begun  to  make  love  to  Oneida,  Per 
haps  it  would  be  better  to  say  he  began 
telling  her  what  he  intended  to  do. 

"I  tell  ye,  Oneida,  that  Kuna  Tom 
person  has  got  cold  feet,  an'  he's  agoin' 
away." 

"What  makes  you  think  so,  Mister 
Jess?" 

"Jist  call  me  Red;  I  don't  like  the 
mister  part.  The  men  up  to  the  mine 
don't  mister  me,  an'  since  we  air  en 
gaged  I  reckon  ye  can  drap  the  mister 
part,  too.  Now,  little  one,  jist  be 
chummy,  an'  we'll  git  real  intimate." 

"You  and  me  engaged?  Well,  I  guess 
hardly;  you're  either  crazy  or  at  least 
gone  a  little  'loco.'  No,  we  are  not  en 
gaged,  and  what's  more,  we  are  not  go 
ing  to  be.  So  there." 

"Now  see  here,  Oneida,  ye  air  off  on 
the  wrong  spur ;  no  pay  dirt  there.  Yer 
folks  is  pore,  keepin'  boardin'  house  is 

24 


REDWOLF  TALKS  MARRIAGE 

erbout  all  they  know  now,  'cept  ranch- 
in'  an'  they've  got  nothin'  to  go  on  even 
if  they  had  a  place  down  the  Valley, 
which  they  aint.  An'  you  aint  got  no 
business  ranchin'  er  waitin'  table. 
When  you  an'  me  is  married  we'll  move 
up  to  the  big  house  by  the  mill,  and 
have  a  pair  o'  Chinks  to  do  the  house 
work.  I  got  money  in  the  bank,  an'  I 
git  a  thousan'  fer  drivin'  Kuna  Tom  off 
his  claim  so's  the  company  can  jump  it. 
This,  o'  course,  is  private  an'  confiden 
tial.  I  bin  a  likin'  ye  fer  some  time, 
but  knowed  ye  wus  a-stickin'  out  fer 
Kuna,  but  'lowed  ye'd  push  him  over 
when  I  tells  ye  how  things  is  goin'  to  be, 
an'  axes  ye  ter  marry  me.  Say  the  word 
an'  we  go  to  the  big  house  an'  when  I  go 
arter  grub  fer  winter,  ye  can  go  erlon' 
an'  git  some  nice  dresses  an'  jewelry 
an'  visit  ol'  friends.  Now  whatcha 
say?" 

25 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

"No,  Mister  Jess,  it  cannot  be." 

"Yes,  it  can;  it  haster  be.  Takin' 
thin's  I  want  is  my  special  business,  so 
we  got  to  settle  matters  now.  Come  out 
here  an'  set  down  an'  we'll  fix  the  date." 

At  this,  he  grabbed  the  girl  by  the 
hands  and  almost  dragged  her  to  an  old 
rustic  bench  under  the  big  pine  tree 
that  stood  near  the  spring  back  of  the 
boarding  house. 

"I  said  no,  and  that  is  all  there  is  to 
it.  I  haven't  spoke  to  you  over  half  a 
dozen  times,  and  further,  I'll  tell  you 
that's  more  than  I  expect  to  do  in  the 
future.  I  have  given  you  no  encourage 
ment,  and  never  will." 

"Yes,  I  know  ye  said  no,  I  heard  ye 
the  fust  time,  but  ye  didn't  mean  it,  I 
tell  ye,  'cause  I  know.  An'  speakin' 
plain  like,  me  an'  you  is  goin'  to  be 
married  right  away,  if  not  sooner." 

She  did  not  answer  him,  but  got  up 

26 


REDWOLF  TALKS  MARRIAGE 

and  stood  there  looking  down  at  him, 
all  the  pentup  hatred  in  her  soul  going 
out  to  him.  He  understood  too,  so  merely 
shrugged  his  shoulders.  Why  should 
he  waste  further  time  talking  love  to 
this  poor,  silly  girl,  or  any  other  girl, 
for  that  matter.  But  as  he  had  not 
figured  just  how  everything  would  come 
about,  thought  best  to  play  safe,  so  he 
talks  on,  hoping  to  get  a  pleasant  look 
from  her  at  least. 

"It's  only  fair  I  got  to  know  the 
reason.  Ye  like  that  pauper  Kuna  Tom, 
aint  that  it?" 

"That,  sir,  is  none  of  your  business. 
I  don't  love  you ;  I  hate  you." 

"No,  ye  don't  hate  me;  ye  like  me  a 
little,  so  I'll  jist  take  a  kiss  as  a  sort  o' 
perliminary,"  but  she  sprang  away 
from  him  and  ran  into  the  arms  of  her 
mother  at  the  kitchen  door. 


27 


Ill 

AS  TO  CLAIM  JUMPING 

Red  was  mad  and  disgusted.  As  he 
walked  slowly  up  the  hill  to  the  mine, 
as  was  his  custom  when  alone,  he  began 
talking  to  himself.  "Ye  dam  little 
Siwash  jade,  I'll  make  ye  change  yer 
mind.  Think  ye  can  push  me  over  that- 
away?  Huh!  Ye'll  be  comin'  ter  me 
on  han's  an'  knees,  beggin'  fer  bread. 
What?  Why  the  whole  bunch  aint 
got  a  sou  to  their  name.  When  I  tell 
the  oP  man  what's  what,  he'll  change 
the  fool  gal's  min'  er  out  they  go  on  the 
lonesome  hike  down  the  river  with  no 
grub  ner  nothin',  an'  a  hard  winter  a 
comin'.  Yes,  an'  if  I  have  to  do  it,  I'll 
send  Kuna  'over'  to  keep  01'  Sam  Smi 
ley  company." 

By  the  time  he  had  climbed  to  the 
mill  he  was  in  such  a  rage  that  his  great 

29 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

body  was  all  a-quiver,  the  brute  nature 
raging  in  him  like  the  fury  of  some 
wild  animal  that  had  been  trapped.  But 
as  he  again  repeated  the  threat  to  kill 
Kuna,  he  relaxed  a  little,  his  great, 
massive  arms  dropped  to  his  side,  for 
the  thoughts  of  prison  life,  with  possibly 
another  term,  caused  him  to  stop  and 
think.  Finally  he  wrote  a  note  to 
Oneida's  father  and  sent  it  into  the 
mine.  It  was  merely  a  request  to  call 
at  the  office  on  his  way  home  from  work. 

"Ye  asked  me  to  stop  on  my  way  out 
tonight.  Well,  here  I  am,"  said  the  old 
gentleman,  as  he  pushed  open  the  door 
and  walked  into  the  little  office,  marked 
"Private." 

"Yas,  I  sent  fer  ye  an'  I'll  make  my 
business  known,  an'  talk  plain.  There 
aint  goin'  to  be  no  guessin'  at  my  mean- 
in'.  I  want  to  marry  Oneida,  but  she's 
got  some  fool  notion  'bout  that  skate  o' 

30 


AS  TO  CLAIM  JUMPING 

a  Kuna  person,  so  I  got  ter  have  yer 
help.  Tell  her  she's  got  ter  marry  me, 
er  ye  all  lose  yer  jobs,  boardin'  house 
an'  ever'thin'." 

The  old  man  was  so  surprised  he 
hardly  knew  what  to  say.  He  saw  by 
the  look  on  Red's  face  that  it  was  a 
serious  matter  with  him,  so  he  must 
think  fast.  He  could  not  well  afford  to 
lose  his  job,  no  money,  no  home,  no 
place  to  go,  and  winter  coming  on.  And 
being  an  old  man,  he  couldn't  stand  the 
hardships  he  once  could.  When  he  did 
not  make  reply  at  once,  Red  continued : 

"Go  on  down  to  the  boardin'  house 
now,  an'  tell  the  gal  what  has  ter  be. 
Stop  here  on  yer  way  back  ter  work  in 
the  mornin',  an'  report.  It's  this  way, 
though,  thars  two  thin's  I'm  goin'  ter 
have,  one's  the  gal  and  the  other's  the 
Wild  Hoss  claim.  If  ye  deliver  the  gal, 
that's  yore  part  o'  the  work,  an'  ye  keep 

31 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

yer  job.  Ye  don't  hafter  help  none  in 
the  claim  jumpin' ;  I  reckon  I  savy  that 
kind  o'  work  all  right." 

As  Uncle  John  Bruneau  left  the  office 
all  he  could  say  was  that  he  would  speak 
to  his  wife  and  daughter  and  report  the 
next  morning.  As  he  made  his  way 
slowly  down  the  hill,  the  cold  unreason 
able  facts  of  the  proposition  as  made  by 
Red,  flashed  through  his  mind.  Then 
his  thoughts  wandered  back  to  the  trials 
and  hardships  of  other  days.  He  had 
reached  the  foot  of  the  hill,  so  stopped 
and  leaning  against  a  big  pine,  buried 
his  face  in  his  hands.  Then  in  a  mo 
ment  he  had  knelt  down,  and  turning 
his  face  so  the  light  of  the  setting  sun 
shone  upon  it,  he  prayed  the  God  of  his 
fathers,  to  help  him.  Tears  trickled 
down  his  face,  for  his  kindly  old  heart, 
that  had  been  hurt  so  often,  had  been 
pierced  again.  But  he  must  be  brave, 

32 


AS  TO  CLAIM  JUMPING 

he  told  himself,  as  he  walked  on  down 
to  the  house.  He  wanted  to  hide  his 
grief  from  his  wife  and  daughter. 
Oneida  met  him  as  he  neared  the  door, 
took  him  by  the  arm,  assisted  him  up 
the  steps  into  the  house,  to  his  easy 
chair,  gave  him  a  kiss,  and  passed  on  to 
the  kitchen  without  speaking  to  him. 
The  evening  meal  was  served  to  the  reg 
ular  boarders,  then  Oneida  set  the  little 
table  over  in  the  corner,  for  themselves. 
The  three  always  ate  alone,  except  when 
they  had  company.  It  was  a  sad  meal. 
Uncle  John  "returned  thanks/'  but  his 
voice  was  barely  audible.  They  would 
look  at  each  other  occasionally,  but  no 
word  was  spoken.  They  all  understood. 
It  was  a  sad  night  for  them,  each  trying 
to  find  relief  in  their  tears.  The  next 
morning,  after  breakfast  was  over, 
Uncle  John  placed  his  hand  on  Oneida's 
head,  and,  striving  hard  to  control  his 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

feelings,  asked  her  if  she  knew  what  he 
wanted  to  ask  her. 

"Yes,  Daddy,  I  know.  And,  I'll  die 
before  I  will  let  that  villain  touch  me. 
Tell  him  to  do  his  worst.  God  will  help 
us;  we  will  get  along  somehow." 

It  took  the  old  man  longer  than  usual 
to  climb  up  to  the  mill.  He  was  broken 
hearted  and  on  the  verge  of  giving  up. 
Then  he  remembered  what  Oneida  had 
said  as  he  was  leaving  the  house :  "Tell 
him  to  do  his  worst.  God  will  help  us ; 
we  will  get  along,  somehow."  He  had 
thought  about  going  on  to  the  mine  and 
going  to  work,  but  finally  decided  to  go 
into  the  office  as  he  agreed  to.  It  took 
all  his  strength  to  enter  that  little  office 
and  say  "good  morning."  Red  had  done 
some  serious  thinking  during  the  night, 
and  had  decided  he  had  made  a  bad  mess 
of  the  whole  matter.  That  if  he  turned 
the  family  out  he  might  lose  track  of 

34 


AS  TO  CLAIM  JUMPING 

them  altogether,  so  had  decided  to  work 
along  different  lines.  He  told  Uncle 
John  to  go  on  to  work ;  that  he  must  get 
an  order  out  for  supplies,  and  would  not 
have  time  to  talk  over  their  private 
affairs  at  that  time.  He  did  not  tell 
the  old  gentleman  of  the  change  in  his 
plans;  he  dismissed  him  by  saying  he 
would  send  for  him  when  he  wished  to 
speak  further  with  him  about  the  mat 
ter. 

That  evening,  when  he  got  home, 
Oneida  hurriedly  told  him  that  she  had 
gone  to  Kuna's  claim  to  see  him,  but  he 
was  not  there.  They  knew  he  had  not 
finished  the  assessment  work  on  his 
claim,  and  they  also  knew  he  would  not 
"go  down  below/'  as  he  would  say  when 
he  intended  to  go  back  to  the  ranch  to 
work.  So  while  the  dreaded  break  with 
Red  had  not  come  yet,  after  what  had 
taken  place,  and  the  threats  that  he  had 

35 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

made,  only  increased  their  fears.  The 
next  day  passed  with  no  trace  of  Kuna, 
although  Oneida  had  gone  to  his  cabin, 
peeped  in,  and  even  went  into  the  tun 
nel.  But  he  must  have  left,  that  was  all 
there  was  to  it.  Had  she  gone  over  a 
little  ridge  and  on  down  to  the  farther 
corner  of  the  claim,  she  would  have  seen 
Kuna  filling  up  a  hole,  which  he  later 
covered  with  pine  needles  and  brush. 
He  had  made  the  big  strike,  but  could 
only  spare  the  time  to  take  out  a  few 
samples  of  ore,  so  decided  to  cover  it  all 
up  and  leave  it  till  he  could  come  up  the 
next  summer.  He  wanted  to  see  Oneida, 
but  he  had  been  away  from  the  ranch 
longer  than  he  had  intended,  so  wrote 
her  a  letter,  telling  of  the  rich  strike, 
how  sorry  he  was  not  to  see  her  again 
before  going,  then  with  a  "good  bye, 
Girlie/'  mailed  the  letter  in  the  box  out- 


AS  TO  CLAIM  JUMPING 

side,  for  the  stage  driver  to  take  down 
to  the  mill. 

Red  got  the  mail,  and  being  interested 
in  Oneida,  decided  to  open  the  letter. 
After  reading  it,  he  tilted  his  head  back 
and  shrugged  his  shoulders,  then  gave 
way  to  his  feelings  by  laughing  to  him 
self.  He  had  long  suspected  there  was 
high  grade  ore  on  Kuna's  Wild  Horse 
claim,  now  he  knew  it.  He  would  keep 
the  letter;  she  had  no  business  with  it, 
why  give  it  to  her.  If  she  knew  of  the 
strike,  she  would  hold  out  the  longer  for 
Kuna.  He  decided  to  go  up  and  inter 
view  the  "cowpunch"  again,  but  Kuna 
had  left  for  the  ranch.  Perhaps  it  was 
better  so.  It  is  hard  to  think  it  was, 
however,  after  learning  what  took  place 
the  next  few  days,  but  who  appointed 
us  judge  of  such  matters?  Do  things 
just  happen,  you  think?  Would  you 
have  had  Red  and  Kuna  meet  on  the 

37 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

summit  that  day  without  a  witness  to 
tell  the  story  after  the  fight  was  over? 
You  know  what  the  former  had  said 
about  jumping  the  claim,  and  you  also 
remember  what  the  owner  said?  Yes. 
Then  do  things  just  happen?  Or  do  they 
not?  Are  we  to  be  the  judges?  If 
there  is  one  thing  more  difficult  to  de 
cide  than  another,  it  is  that  which  we 
do  not  understand.  I  will  repeat  then, 
perhaps  it  was  better  so. 


38 


IV 

I  WILL  LOVE  YOU  ALWAYS— AND 
WAIT 

When  Uncle  John  came  home  that 
evening  he  found  his  wife  and  daughter 
as  sorrowful  as  ever.  With  no  word 
from  Kuna,  and  no  decision  from  Red,  it 
was  a  problem  too  great  for  them  to 
solve.  The  old  folks  looked  to  Oneida  to 
help  them  decide  what  was  best  to  do,  so 
they  listened  to  her. 

"In  the  morning/'  she  told  them,  "I 
will  go  up  to  Kuna's  claim  again.  My 
pony  horse  is  strong  and  can  stand  a 
long  day's  ride.  If  I  do  not  find  him  at 
his  mine,  I  will  go  down  the  trail  a  short 
distance  and  try  to  find  out  what  has 
become  of  him.  He  must  have  left  some 
sign  at  the  cabin,  or  tracks  along  the 
trail."  And  so  it  was  decided.  That 
night  she  lived  over  again  the  time  spent 

39 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

with  him  during  his  last  visit.  She  re 
called,  of  course,  all  he  had  told  her,  how 
happy  they  would  be  when  he  had  saved 
enough  to  provide  a  home  for  her.  Then 
she  would  try  to  recall  the  exact  words 
he  did  say.  Ah,  I  remember  now.  We 
were  sitting  out  yonder  on  the  big  rock 
by  the  spring,  holding  hands.  "Be 
patient,  girlie,  and  things  will  come  our 
way  after  a  while.  I  haven't  much  edu 
cation,  but  Fll  manage  somehow.  I 
don't  drink  ner  gamble  none;  ye  know 
that.  I've  bin  kind  to  my  ol'  parents, 
an'  I'll  be  good  to  you.  When  I  make 
my  stake  out  o'  the  claim  or  git  a  little 
ahead  some  other  way,  we'll  git  mar 
ried.  An'  ye  wont  tire  o'  waitin'  an' 
chuck  me  love ;  ye  wont  do  that,  will  ye 
girlie?"  And  I  laughed  and  said,  "No, 
Kuna  boy,  I'll  never  do  that.  I  will  love 
you  always,  and  wait." 

When  she  awoke  next  morning  the 

40 


I  WILL  LOVE  YOU  ALWAYS 

sun  was  well  up,  flooding  the  valley  be 
low  with,  what  Oneida  thought,  a  pecu 
liar  light;  a  hazy  appearance  that  she 
had  never  noticed  before.  She  did  not 
think  much  about  the  weather;  yes,  it 
might  storm;  but  what  if  it  did,  she 
knew  the  way  home,  so  would  take  a 
chance.  She  had  put  herself  up  a  little 
lunch,  had  saddled  her  pony,  and  with 
only  thoughts  of  Kuna,  rode  away  up 
the  river.  She  knew  a  short  way,  a  cut 
off  trail,  to  the  summit,  and  decided  to 
go  that  way,  for  it  would  give  her  a 
better  view  of  the  surrounding  country. 
When  she  reached  the  top,  she  would 
turn  west  and  follow  the  ridge  almost 
to  Kuna's  claim.  "Climb,  Moley,  climb," 
she  said  to  her  pony  as  she  guided  him 
across  the  canyon  and  headed  him  up 
the  mountain.  Slowly  the  horse  made 
his  way  up  the  narrow  trail,  at  every 
turn  the  brush  scratching  her  face  and 

41 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

hands.  She  thought  little  of  this,  how 
ever.  She  even  failed  to  note  that  a 
storm  cloud  coming  up  out  of  the  west 
was  well  over  Galena  Pass,  and  would 
cross  the  basin  reaching  the  summit  be 
fore  she  did.  Not  till  the  sleet  and  snow 
commenced  to  cut  her  face  did  she  real 
ize  her  situation.  Then  it  was  too  late 
to  turn  back.  Finally,  the  pony  with  a 
mighty  lunge,  climbed  to  the  top  of  the 
ridge  and  stopped.  The  storm  was  upon 
them ;  the  wind  was  blowing  a  gale ;  the 
pony  trying  to  turn  around,  and  she 
using  all  her  strength  to  keep  him  going 
in  the  right  direction.  The  dim  trail 
was  soon  covered  with  snow,  so  she  had 
to  get  off  and  walk.  The  horse  would 
not  lead  very  well,  so  she  took  down  her 
saddle  rope,  and  was  leading  him  with 
that.  She  had  almost  reached  the  Pass, 
was  within  a  short  distance  of  Kuna's 
cabin,  when  the  horse  slipped,  lost  his 

42 


I  WILL  LOVE  YOU  ALWAYS 

footing  and  went  tumbling  down  the 
mountain.  Oneida  could  not  let  go  of 
the  wet  rope  in  time  to  save  herself,  so 
was  jerked  clear  of  the  rim-rock  and 
down  she  went.  She  landed  in  a  tree  top 
just  as  she  had  freed  herself  from  the 
tangle  of  the  rope,  but  took  another 
header,  falling  against  a  clump  of 
bushes,  which  only  checked  her  fall; 
then  as  she  went  jumping,  rolling  and 
tumbling,  she  called  out  to  her  Kuna 
boy,  "I  will  love  you  always — and 
wait." 

How  long  she  lay  in  the  snow  with 
her  body  bent  around  a  little  tree,  she 
did  not  know.  When  she  finally  re 
leased  herself  and  got  up,  it  seemed  as 
if  every  bone  in  her  body  was  broken, 
but  she  managed  to  work  her  way  down 
the  bluff  a  short  distance,  and  finally 
found  a  place  beside  some  rocks  where 
she  could  have  shelter  from  the  storm. 

43 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

Then  she  began  to  wonder  what  she  was 
going  to  do.  She  was  cold  and  hungry, 
her  clothing  was  wet  and  torn,  and  her 
horse  was  gone.  Then  she  thought  of 
her  lunch,  but  it  was  gone,  too.  Then 
she  screamed.  Her  voice  must  have 
carried  twenty  feet.  Next  she  felt  for 
her  revolver.  And  what  a  relief  it  was 
to  know  it  was  safe  in  the  holster  at 
her  side.  She  would  shoot  a  time  or 
two;  maybe  someone  would  hear  the 
report  and  come  to  her.  No,  she  would 
not  do  that,  no  one  could  hear  if  she  did, 
and  she  might  need  all  her  cartridges. 
Then  a  noise,  as  of  a  fallen  tree,  made 
her  crawl  out  of  her  shelter  and  look 
about.  "Oh,"  she  exclaimed,  "a  pack 
horse."  Then  the  Kootenai  boy  that 
she  had  known  when  she  was  with  the 
Indians,  came  around  the  rock  and 
spoke  to  her. 
"Kahta  mika,  Oneida.  Mesika  Elitee." 

44 


I  WILL  LOVE  YOU  ALWAYS 

"What."  Then  she  recognized  him. 
"I  am  not  feeling  very  well,  and  you  are 
not  my  slave.  Chip  Chip,  my  dear,  good 
boy,  how  did  you  find  me.  Where  can 
we  find  shelter  from  this  storm;  what 
will  we — what  can  we  do,  anyway.  My 
pony  rolled  down  the  mountain.  I  was 
leading  him  along  the  summit,  yonder, 
when  he  lost  his  footing  and  dragged 
me  down  with  him.  I  am  all  bruised 
and  scratched  up,  and  so  sore  I  can 
scarcely  walk.  And  I  lost  my  lunch, 
so  am  nearly  starved  too,  and  almost 
frozen.  There  is  a  cabin  just  over  the 
summit,  and  a  'lean-to'  for  your  horses, 
but  I  don't  know  whether  we  can  find  it 
or  not.  The  storm  is  getting  worse." 

The  boy  made  no  reply,  but  as  soon 
as  he  could  get  his  saddle  horse  near 
the  rock  on  which  they  had  been  stand 
ing,  helped  her  to  mount,  then  went  and 
caught  his  pack  horse  and  started  up 

45 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

the  mountain,  motioning  her  to  follow. 
The  climb  was  a  hard  one,  and  it  took 
them  much  longer  than  they  thought  it 
would.  After  they  reached  the  Pass, 
Oneida  took  the  lead,  and  although  she 
could  see  but  a  few  feet  as  they  were 
facing  the  storm  again,  she  soon  found 
the  cabin.  She  managed  to  dismount 
somehow,  not  very  gracefully,  she  knew 
that,  but  felt  relieved  as  they  were  safe 
from  the  storm.  She  went  into  the 
shack,  and  after  a  hurried  glance  about 
the  room,  was  still  further  relieved  for 
she  felt  sure  by  the  appearance  of  things 
that  Kuna  had  finished  his  work  and 
gone  back  to  the  ranch.  Chip  Chip 
looked  after  his  horses,  getting  them 
into  the  shed,  then  went  in  and  started 
a  fire  in  the  old  cook  stove  that  set  upon 
a  box  filled  with  dirt,  over  in  one  corner. 
Then  he  brought  the  pack  and  saddle  in, 
going  back  to  give  his  horses  a  feed  of 

46 


I  WILL  LOVE  YOU  ALWAYS 

oats  that  he  had  brought,  and  to  tie  their 
blankets  on  to  keep  them  warm.  He 
was  not  much  on  the  talk,  for  his  boyish 
mind  was  busy  with  thoughts  of  Oneida, 
how  he  would  make  her  comfortable, 
and  wondering  how  she  would  like  the 
supper  he  was  preparing  for  her.  He 
was  nearly  out  of  grub,  too,  so  he  would 
only  take  enough  for  one ;  he  would  tell 
Oneida  he  ate  a  few  bites  just  before  he 
found  her.  A  cup  of  black  coffee,  of 
course  no  cream  or  sugar,  some  smoked 
salmon  and  two  crackers.  But,  oh,  how 
good  it  all  tasted.  It  was  getting  dark 
so  they  lit  a  candle,  then  pulled  their 
chairs  up  nearer  the  stove.  Had  you 
asked  Oneida  what  they  were  doing, 
besides  gazing  into  the  fire,  for  they 
were  not  talking,  she  would  have  told 
you  that  they  were  having  a  silent  visit. 
She  was  very  tired  and  did  not  care  to 
talk  herself,  but  wanted  to  know  how 
the  boy  came  to  be  there,  and  how  he 

47 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

had  been  since  she  last  saw  him.  He 
knew  she  would  want  to  know  every 
thing,  and  was  afraid  to  tell  her  the 
truth  for  fear  she  would  be  cross  with 
him,  but  finally  made  up  his  mind  to 
tell  her  the  whole  story. 

"It  was  this  way.  I  will  be  honest;  I 
could  not  deceive  you.  I  run  away  to 
find  you.  Chip  Chip  is  no  longer  a  boy; 
he  is  a  man.  You  know  I  love  Becca 
True,  the  prettiest  an'  sweetest  girl  on 
the  Clearwater.  She  will  finish  school 
next  year.  She'll  come  home,  an*  if  she 
finds  me  the  same  ignorant  boy  she  used 
to  know,  she'll  turn  me  down.  I  have 
been  with  the  Indians  so  much,  I  dress 
like  them,  I  look  like  them,  and,  act  like 
them.  Becca  grew  up  with  the  same 
people,  but  she  has  been  away,  learned 
how  people  talk  an'  act  elsewhere,  so  I 
got  to  git  rid  o'  this  Indian  jargon  that 
comes  into  the  talk,  unless  I  study  my 
words  an'  go  mighty  slow.  If  I  git  ex- 

48 


I  WILL  LOVE  YOU  ALWAYS 

cited,  it's  all  off,  I  can't  talk  at  all.  You 
know  my  people  live  among  the  Indians, 
so  I  was  raised  with  Indian  children, 
what  you  say,  no  talkem  good  English. 
But  Til  send  a  talk  paper  home  so  they 
will  know  where  I  am.  I  come  across 
mountains  to  Boise  River.  Storm  struck 
me  down  yonder,  somewhere.  Then  I 
find  you.  Mighty  glad,  you  bin  froze  by 
now.  No  more  see'm  Oneida,  then  I  be 
sad.  Now,  when  I  git  you  home,  you 
teach  me  from  book.  Then  Becca  like'm 
better.  Chip  Chip  is  sorry  you  in  storm 
an'  git  hurt,  but  you  will  be  all  right, 
will  school  me  this  winter,  so  I  am  very 
happy.  Nika  mesika  elitee." 

"No,  Chip  Chip,  you  will  not  be  my 
slave.  I  told  you  that  when  you  found 
me  down  there  in  the  snow.  You  will 
be  as  you  have  always  been,  my  friend. 
If  we  live  to  get  out  of  here,  I  shall  cer 
tainly  help  you  with  your  studies  so  you 
can  win  Becca,  for  she  is  my  friend; 

49 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

yes,  she  is  more  than  my  friend,  she  is 
the  same  as  my  sister.  I  know  you  and 
she  planned  my  escape  from  the  Gipsy 
Indians,  and  I  shall  never  forget.  But 
I  am  too  tired  and  sleepy  to  visit  any 
more  with  you  now,  so  help  me  get  my 
chair  over  here  in  the  corner  and  I  will 
wrap  this  blanket  around  me  and  go  to 
sleep." 

He  moved  the  chair  for  her,  carefully 
wrapped  the  blanket  about  her,  placed 
his  six-shooters  (he  always  carried  two) 
in  her  lap  and  started  to  leave  the  cabin. 
"Me  go  sleep  with'm  pony." 

"Come  back;  you  will  do  nothing  of 
the  kind.  Here,  take  your  revolvers 
and  put  them  back  in  the  holsters.  I 
know  you  are  my  friend,  so  I  trust  you. 
Bring  your  chair  up  to  that  side  of  the 
stove  where  you  can  keep  warm,  and 
keep  the  fire  going.  Kalhowa,  Chip 
Chip." 

"Kalhowa,  Oneida.  Hyas  kloshe 
toketee  dreams." 

50 


V 
THE  STORM  ON  THE  SAWTOOTH 

"When  I  told  you  good-night  after 
wrapping  the  blanket  around  you,  I 
wished  you  very  fine,  very  good  dreams. 
Did  you  have  them,  Oneida?" 

It  was  Chip,  talking.  He  was  not  ex 
cited  now,  so  by  carefully  studying  his 
words  could  talk  very  well.  She  had 
not  awakened  during  the  night,  being 
so  completely  exhausted,  but  now  gave 
a  jump,  but  at  once  settled  back  in  the 
chair.  She  was  so  sore  from  her  bruises 
she  could  scarcely  move.  And,  the  pain. 
Then  with  a  little  "oh,"  as  she  looked 
up  at  Chip  and  realized  where  she  was. 

"It's  broad  daylight,  and  me  still 
sleeping  away.  How's  the  storm, 
Chip?" 

"Bad,  very  bad.  Maybe  so  not  bad  as 
it  was.  Snow  so  deep,"  and  he  made  a 
51 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

mark  on  the  door  to  show  her  it  was 
over  a  foot  deep.  "And  more  comin'. 
We  must  go  down  the  valley  today,  or 
maybe  so  starve.  Hoss  starve  too.  Here, 
eatum  breakfast.  Chip  eat  soon  when 
he  wake  up.  One  more,  whatcha  callem, 
feed,  so  we  have  to  go  er  starve. " 

He  had  prepared  her  the  same  fare 
for  breakfast  that  she  had  for  her  sup 
per — a  cup  of  coffee,  a  little  piece  of 
smoked  salmon  and  two  crackers.  She 
knew  that  he  had  eaten  nothing  since 
the  day  before,  probably  a  bite  for 
breakfast,  so  she  wrapped  the  crackers 
and  salmon  up  in  a  piece  of  paper  and 
put  them  in  her  pocket.  Chip  had  gone 
out  to  the  shed,  and  as  he  came  in  the 
girl  was  sipping  the  last  of  her  coffee. 

"See  can  git  up  an'  walk,  Oneida, 
Chip  go  down  git  your  saddle.  I  find'm 
pony,  heap  dead.  Neck  under  side,  so/' 
and  he  went  through  the  motion  to  show 

52 


THE  STORM  ON  THE  SAWTOOTH 

the  position  he  had  found  her  horse  in. 
When  he  came  back  he  asked  her  if  she 
thought  she  could  ride  his  horse,  but 
she  told  him  she  was  afraid  she  couldn't 
do  it.  He  left,  and  was  gone  so  long 
she  began  to  feel  worried  about  him,  so 
managed  to  get  out  of  the  cabin  to  look 
for  him.  She  finally  found  him  down  in 
the  snow  by  the  side  of  his  horses,  tying 
his  tarpaulin  on  the  two  long  poles  he 
had  carried  up. 

"What  are  you  doing,  Chip?  I  thought 
you  had  wandered  away  and  got  lost, 
you  were  gone  so  long." 

Make'm  travoi,  to  haul  you  on.  You 
no  ride  hoss,  have  to  fix'm  somehow. 
See,  maybe  this  is  whatcha  call'm  feed/' 
and  then  he  gave  her  the  little  paper 
bag  that  contained  her  lunch,  which  he 
had  found  securely  tied  on  the  back  of 
her  saddle.  "Go  back  in  cabin,  git  heap 
warm,  then  we  start  down,  yonder." 

53 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

When  all  was  ready,  he  led  the  horses 
up  to  the  cabin  and  called  to  her  to  get 
ready.  She  knew  what  he  had  fixed  up 
for  her — she  had  seen  Indian  "one- 
horse  cutters"  before.  The  only  ques 
tion  was,  could  she  make  the  ride.  Chip 
had  found  two  nice  long  poles,  had  fas 
tened  the  tarpaulin  securely  to  them, 
so  as  to  give  them  a  spread  of  about 
three  feet  at  the  top,  or  smaller  ends, 
and  probably  six  feet  at  the  other.  The 
small  ends  of  the  poles  are  tied  to  the 
pack  saddle,  looking  much  like  buggy 
shafts,  tied  to  the  top  of  the  horse's 
collar,  instead  of  down  at  the  side.  A 
cross-piece,  where  the  single  tree  would 
be,  and  another  a  little  further  back, 
makes  the  frame  for  the  bed,  over 
which  Chip  had  stretched  the  canvas. 
He  helped  the  girl  into  this  big  sagging 
pocket,  covered  her  well  with  the  blank 
ets,  mounted  his  saddle  horse  and 

54 


THE  STORM  ON  THE  SAWTOOTH 

started  down  the  mountain  breaking 
the  trail,  the  old  pack  horse  with  his 
load  following  along  close  behind.  The 
wind  was  blowing  hard,  the  snow 
poured  down  and  with  that  the  wind 
ground  up  and  hurled  against  them, 
they  were  soon  the  color  of  the  land 
scape  about  them.  They  did  not  know 
where  they  were  going,  it  was  "down 
yonder,  somewhere."  Every  jerk  in 
creased  the  girl's  suffering  and  brought 
tears  to  her  eyes,  but  she  did  not  com 
plain.  Down,  down  they  went,  flound 
ering  along  in  the  snow,  the  wind  blow 
ing  harder  as  they  got  down  into  the 
open.  They  were  going  with  the  storm, 
which  helped  them  a  little.  They  had 
been  making  pretty  good  time,  the 
depth  of  the  snow  and  the  rough  coun 
try  considered,  and  just  as  Chip  was 
congratulating  himself  that  the  worst 
was  over,  for  he  could  get  a  glimpse  of 

55 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

level  country,  the  horses  plunged  into 
a  swamp  and  down  they  both  went.  The 
travoi  was  turned  over  and  Oneida  was 
thrown  head  first  over  into  a  big  drift. 
It  was  then  that  she  gave  her  first  cry 
of  pain.  Chip  must  have  heard  her, 
but  he  could  not  get  to  her  till  he  had 
freed  himself  and  scrambled  out  of  the 
bog.  By  this  time  the  girl  had  man 
aged  to  get  up,  somehow.  It  took  Chip 
some  little  time  to  get  the  horses  out, 
for  they  had  both  mired  down,  but  when 
they  were  again  on  solid  ground,  he 
helped  the  girl  back  into  her  "sleigh." 
All  this  time  he  had  not  spoken  a  word. 
When  ready  to  start  again,  he  made  a 
few  motions  with  his  hands,  which 
meant  that  they  would  get  back  into  the 
foothills,  away  from  the  river.  She 
understood  the  sign  talk  so  motioned 
to  him  to  come  back. 

"Here,  Chip  Chip,    you  eat  these/' 

56 


THE  STORM  ON  THE  SAWTOOTH 

and  she  handed  him  the  sandwiches 
that  she  had  prepared  the  morning  be 
fore.  "Oneida  is  sick;  she  cannot  eat 
them."  He  shook  his  head,  but  after 
much  coaxing,  he  ate  them,  then  half 
turning  away  and  looking  up  into  the 
hills,  said :  "Mes-see,  muck-a-muck, 
elip  kloshe."  (Thank  you;  food  was 
very  fine;  the  very  best.) 

Oneida  was  much  pleased  when  he 
took  the  food  she  offered  him,  for  she 
knew  he  was  very  hungry  and  tired. 
He  was  a  fright  to  look  at,  was  wet  to 
the  skin  and  smeared  from  head  to  foot 
with  black,  nasty  smelling,  alkali  mud. 
"Listen,  Chip  Chip,  keep  as  close  to  the 
timber  as  you  can  and  keep  a  close 
watch  for  buildings.  It  will  soon  be 
dark,  so  go  as  fast  as  you  can.  When 
you  see  a  house  or  light,  call  to  me." 

He  merely  nodded  his  head  and 
started  on.  The  drifts  were  deep,  so 

57 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

he  had  to  walk  and  help  the  horses 
break  down  the  snow.  When  the  horses 
would  stop,  the  girl  would  peep  out 
from  under  the  blanket,  then  cover  her 
head  again,  for  she  knew  she  could  not 
help  any,  and  she  knew,  also,  that  life 
or  death  depended  on  the  strength  and 
endurance  of  that  boy 

On  they  went,  lunging,  floundering, 
the  travoi  jerking  and  throwing  her 
from  one  side  to  the  other  till  she 
thought  she  must  surely  die  from  pain. 
She  was  getting  cold,  too,  felt  numb, 
and  when  the  pains  were  not  so  severe, 
felt  a  little  drowsy.  Then,  when  her 
strength  had  all  left  her,  she  went  to 
sleep.  When  she  awoke,  she  looked  up, 
a  lamp  was  burning  upon  a  little  table 
near  her;  she  was  lying  on  a  bed;  yes, 
she  was  sure  of  that — then  she  felt  the 
touch  of  a  hand  on  her  forehead.  Next 
she  saw  the  face  of  a  kindly  woman, 

58 


THE  STORM  ON  THE  SAWTOOTH 

and  heard  her  say,  "There  now,  dearie, 
be  quiet;  you  will  be  all  right  in  a  little 
while.  Poor  girl,  you  were  almost 
frozen.  Here  is  a  nice,  warm  supper 
for  you.  The  fellow  who  brought  you 
here  ate  his  supper,  and  has  gone  to 
bed.  He  seemed  very  tired,  could 
scarcely  walk,  so  when  I  told  him  that 
you  were  all  right  he  went  right  off  to 
bed." 

Oneida  thanked  her  for  her  kindness, 
ate  the  supper  the  good  woman  had 
brought  her,  and  it  tasted  so  good  she 
wanted  to  ask  for  more,  but  didn't;  she 
lay  back  on  the  big  pillows  to  rest  and 
think.  She  wanted  to  go  over  what  had 
happened  since  she  started  out  to  hunt 
for  Kuna,  so  she  could  get  things  right 
in  her  mind.  She  was  so  warm  and 
comfortable,  she  must  have  gone  right 
to  sleep.  When  she  awakened,  she  saw 
the  old  lady  sitting  beside  her,  with 

59 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

hands  folded,  her  head  bent  forward, 
rocking  herself  in  her  big,  easy  chair. 
The  girl  must  have  spoken  before  she 
realized  where  she  was,  for  she  said 
"Mother,  why — "  She  was  going  to 
ask  her  mother  why  she  was  not  in  bed, 
for  she  could  see  the  big  clock — it  was 
almost  midnight. 

"Call  me  Aunt  Nannie,  dear;  every 
one  calls  me  that,  and  I  like  it."  Then 
they  visited,  Oneida  going  over  all  that 
had  taken  place  in  her  life  the  past 
week,  but  asked  her  not  to  tell  anyone 
of  her  adventures. 


VI 

SAFE  WITH  AUNT  NANNIE 
"Come  in,  Chip,  and  shake  hands 
with  Aunt  Nannie,  the  dear,  good 
woman  who  took  us  in  and  treated  us 
so  nicely/'  said  Oneida,  when  he  had 
appeared  at  the  door  of  her  room  the 
next  morning  to  ask  how  she  was  feel 
ing.  "We  will  stay  here,  for  a  while. 
Take  good  care  of  your  horses,  giving 
them  plenty  of  feed,  so  they  will  be 
strong  when  you  want  to  use  them 
again.  Help  Aunt  Nannie,  she  will  tell 
you  what  she  wants  done.  Then  when 
there  is  nothing  to  busy  yourself  at, 
come  in  and  sit  here  and  I  will  read  to 
you  and  give  you  a  book  lesson  every 
day.  See  the  school  books  there  ?"  He 
did,  and  was  so  pleased  he  was  about  to 
say  he  didn't  care  if  the  storm  lasted 
all  winter,  for,  he  ran  away  from  home 

61 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

to  find  Oneida,  and  hadn't  he  found  her 
so  she  could  teach  him?  Surely  every 
thing  had  worked  out  just  as  he  had 
wished  it — except,  of  course,  the  acci 
dent  to  her  — and  the  storm — nothing 
like  that  in  his  plans  when  he  started 
out,  but  they  were  to  be  together  and 
she  would  give  him  a  book  lesson  every 
day.  He  was  happy. 

Things  went  along  nicely  for  them. 
Oneida  had  recovered  from  her  bruises 
so  by  the  end  of  the  first  week  she  and 
Aunt  Nannie  had  everything  planned 
for  the  winter.  She  and  Chip  were  to 
stay  with  this  good  woman,  she  was 
a  widow  and  living  alone ;  her  two  chil 
dren  were  away  at  school;  and  she 
would  have  to  hire  someone  to  feed  and 
care  for  her  cattle.  This  was  as  agree 
able  to  Oneida  as  it  was  to  Chip,  she  did 
not  want  to  go  home,  for  she  feared 
Redwolf.  If  she  could  stay  there  he 

62 


SAFE  WITH  AUNT  NANNIE 

would  not  find  her.  Chip  could  carry 
word  to  her  parents  so  they  would  know 
that  she  was  safe  and  well.  This  she 
explained  to  him,  and  told  him  to  get 
the  "big  moccasins"  ready,  and  she 
would  tell  him  how  to  go,  what  he  was 
to  say  when  he  got  there,  and  under  no 
circumstances  was  he  to  let  anyone  but 
her  father  and  mother  know  where  she 
was.  She  had  described  them  to  him, 
so  he  felt  sure  he  would  know  them 
when  he  saw  them.  He  was  as  positive 
he  would  know  Red,  and  he  felt  he  could 
give  him  a  good  licking.  That  might 
please  Oneida.  He  had  not  told  her 
this,  but  maybe  it  would  please  her.  He 
would  probably  ask  her  about  it  later. 
That  evening  Chip  got  his  snowshoes 
ready  and  told  the  girl  he  would  go  the 
next  day,  so  she  gave  him  his  final  in 
structions.  To  make  sure  he  under 
stood  everything,  she  repeated  it  all  to 

63 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

him  in  Kootenai.  Yes,  he  understood. 
It  was  not  far,  as  the  crow  would  fly, 
but  the  round-about  way  and  the  soft 
snow  made  it  a  very  hard  trip.  Steep, 
too,  only  by  zig-zagging  could  the  climb 
be  made  at  all.  It  was  the  middle  of 
the  afternoon  when  Chip  slipped  up  to 
the  door  and  looked  in.  He  saw  an  old 
man  with  long,  gray  beard  and  white 
hair,  sitting  in  front  of  the  fireplace. 
Chip  stood  there  watching  him.  Yes, 
that  was  him,  he  would  rap  on  the  door, 
and  wait  till  some  one  came  to  let  him 
in,  just  as  Oneida  had  told  him  to  do. 
He  did  not  quite  understand  when 
Uncle  John  turned  facing  the  door,  and 
told  him  to  come  in.  After  a  moment's 
hesitation,  however,  he  entered,  and 
stood  with  his  back  to  the  door,  till 
Uncle  John  got  up,  extended  his  hand, 
and  asked  him  to  have  a  chair  by  the 
fire.  He  was  just  a  little  suspicious, 

64 


SAFE  WITH  AUNT  NANNIE 

so  became  rather  nervous  when  Uncle 
John  asked: 

"What  can  I  do  for  you?" 

"Huh!  Nothin'  fer  me.  You  like'm 
good  news?"  Then  with  a  quick  turn 
of  the  head  he  had  looked  out  of  every 
window  and  into  every  nook  and  corner 
of  the  room,  fearing  someone  might  be 
listening. 

The  old  gentleman  had  noticed  Chip's 
nervousness,  and  was  just  a  little  sus 
picious,  but  replied,  "Certainly  I  like 
good  news.  But  I  have  had  so  much 
bad,  that  it  seems  as  if  good  news  would 
be  a  great  shock  to  me.  Out  with  it,  sir ; 
what  do  you  know  that  would  be  good 
news  to  me?" 

"I  find  Oneida  in  storm.  Pony  rolPm 
down  mountain,  break'm  neck.  Big 
drifts  of  snow;  heap  cold,  Oneida  all 
bruised  from  fall.  I  take  her  to  cabin, 
she  git  all  right.  Next  day,  all  day  in 

65 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

bad  storm  we  nearly  froze.  By'm  by 
find'm  big  house,  stay  there.  Oneida 
no  want  to  come  home.  Traid.  Kum- 
tux?" 

Now,  Uncle  John  was  suspicious  of 
anyone  who  looked  like  an  Indian,  for 
they  had  kidnapped  his  girl  once,  and 
while  ready  to  admit  there  were  possi 
bly  some  good  ones  living,  he  considered 
a  "good  Indian  as  a  dead  one."  No 
wonder  then,  that  he  was  shocked  at 
what  Chip  had  tried  to  tell  him,  for  he 
had  not  made  himself  quite  plain,  and 
he  felt  sure  from  his  looks  and  talk 
there  was  Indian  blood  in  this  fellow. 

"Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  you 
found  my  girl  and  carried  her  away, 
and  that  she  will  not  come  home?  And 
do  you  think  that  is  good  news  to  me? 
You  scoundrel,  I  ought  to  kill  you,  but 
it  is  wrong  to  kill,  so  I  will  not  do  it. 
Go;  there  is  the  door.  Bring  us  our 

66 


SAFE  WITH  AUNT  NANNIE 

daughter;  that  is  the  only  good  news 
we  want  from  you.  She  were  better 
off  dead,  than  with  you  and  your  kind," 
and  Mrs.  Bruneau  wondered  what  it 
was  all  about,  for  she  had  come  into  the 
room  just  as  Uncle  John  had  ordered 
Chip  to  go. 

This  talk  was  all  unexpected  to  Chip, 
so  he  could  make  no  reply.  He  was 
simply  crushed.  He  had  never  wronged 
anyone  in  his  life,  and  to  be  abused  and 
insulted  in  this  manner  when  he  had 
risked  his  own  life  to  save  the  girl,  and 
without  giving  him  a  chance  to  explain 
more  fully,  that  they  would  know  their 
girl  was  as  safe  from  harm  as  though 
she  were  home,  it  hurt  him.  He  jumped 
out  into  the  snow,  hurriedly  tied  on  his 
snowshoes,  and  was  soon  back  at  the 
ranch.  He  was  so  mad  he  came  down 
the  mountain  as  fast  as  a  bird  would 
fly,  almost,  for  what  did  it  matter  if  he 

67 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

went  over  a  bluff  or  ran  into  a  tree, 
and  killed  himself;  no  one  would  care. 
"Maybeso  look  like  Indian,  maybeso 
talk  like  Indian,  maybeso  little  Indian 
blood  in  veins ;  if  is,  me  no  put  it  there. 
Huh!  All  same  Indian  an'a  scoundrel." 

He  did  not  know  what  a  scoundrel 
was  or  just  what  the  word  meant,  but 
it  was  something  mean;  he  knew  that 
by  the  way  the  old  man  looked  when 
he  said  it.  Chip  did  not  go  to  the  house 
till  he  had  fed  the  cattle  and  horses,  so 
when  he  went  in  supper  was  ready,  but 
he  would  not  eat.  You  can  never  tell 
whether  some  people  are  pleased  or 
otherwise  by  the  look  on  the  face;  no 
matter  how  they  feel,  there  is  that  same 
blank  expression,  if  they  choose  to  have 
it  that  way.  Oneida  rushed  up  to  him 
as  soon  as  he  came  in  and  began  to  ask 
questions. 

"Did  you  find  them  all  right,  Chip, 

68 


SAFE  WITH  AUNT  NANNIE 

and  were  they  glad  to  see  you ;  did  they 
think  I  had  been  lost  in  the  storm? 
What  did  they  say,  anyway,  tell  me 
quick  all  about  them,  and  your  trip  up 
there." 

"Huh!  Saw  oP  man.  He  no  say 
hellofalot." 

"Oh,  Chip,  you  shock  me.  Weren't 
they  glad  to  see  you,  and  didn't  they 
say  they  were  pleased  when  you  told 
them  you  had  carried  me  out  of  the 
storm  and  saved  my  life,  and  that  I 
was  all  right?" 

"No.  Called  me  bad  name,  very  bad 
name.  Say  kill  me.  Yell  at  me,  go! 
Then  I  hike'm  home  here,  fast  like  bird 
fly.  Me  heap  sad.  No  talk'm  any 


more." 


Realizing  something  had  gone  seri 
ously  wrong,  Oneida  took  her  troubles 
to  Aunt  Nannie,  but  they  could  find 
little  comfort  in  what  Chip  had  told 

69 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

her.  She  must  wait,  he  would  tell  her 
next  day  when  he  got  ready — she  knew 
it  was  no  use  to  coax — she  must  wait. 


70 


VII 
LOOKING  FOR  KIDNAPPERS 

Uncle  John  had  not  been  able  to  get 
up  to  the  mine  for  several  days,  on  ac 
count  of  the  storm,  so  the  next  morning 
after  Chip's  visit,  when  he  was  almost 
overcome  with  grief,  and  longing  for 
someone  to  come  in  so  he  could  tell 
his  troubles,  and  get  advice,  Red  came 
down  to  see  how  they  were  getting 
along.  Ready  to  confide  in  any 
one  and  do  anything  to  rescue 
Oneida,  for  he  felt  sure  she  had 
been  kidnapped  and  carried  away,  he 
told  of  Chip's  visit,  what  he  thought 
had  happened  to  her,  and  asked  his 
advice  and  help.  Then  he  was  sorry  he 
had  told  this  to  Redwolf,  for  he  did  not 
want  to  place  himself  under  obligations 
to  this  man  that  he  so  utterly  despised. 
But  he  was  overcome ;  he  had  forgotten 

71 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

all  else  but  the  recovery  of  his  girl,  so 
he  must  accept  whatever  help  and  ad 
vice  the  foreman  had  to  offer.  They 
went  out  and  looked  at  the  snowshoe 
tracks.  Yes,  they  could  follow  them, 
and  could  find  that  Indian;  they  were 
sure  of  that.  But  what  would  they  do 
if  they  found  him?  Maybe  it  was  a 
lure  to  get  them  to  come  down  in  the 
valley.  There  might  be  a  whole  tribe 
of  renegade  Indians  down  there.  "Yes, 
the  one  that  was  up  here  was  a  vicious 
looking  fellow,  looked  as  if  he  would 
commit  any  crime,  and  gloat  over  it." 
Uncle  John  felt  justified  in  making 
this  statement,  for  had  not  the  fellow 
confessed  to  carrying  his  daughter 
away,  and  didn't  he  say,  "She  no  come 
home?" 

Red  was  pretty  cunning  in  some 
things,  so  he  told  Uncle  John  to  wait 
till  the  next  morning,  and  he  would  call 

72 


LOOKING  FOR  KIDNAPPERS 

in  and  talk  matters  over,  and  they 
would  decide  what  was  best  to  do.  He 
had  never  tried  bluffing  Indians,  and 
as  that  was  his  long  suit,  the  red  man 
might  not  bluff.  He  must  get  a  little 
advice  on  this  point  and  see  whether  it 
was  best  to  try  a  bluff,  and  if  not  too 
many  of  them,  to  try  bribing.  So  that 
night  he  goes  up  town  and  finds  a  couple 
of  his  old  cronies,  confides  everything 
to  them,  but  assures  them  all  he  wants 
is  advice,  for  he  expects  to  do  the 
"rough  house  work"  himself.  The 
habits,  customs,  moods,  etc.,  of  the 
Noble  Red  Man  and  his  probable  value 
of  a  nice  pale-face  squaw,  was  all  he 
wanted;  he  would  make  his  plans  and 
do  the  rest. 

Bright  and  early  the  next  morning 
he  was  at  the  boarding  house  with  two 
of  the  best  snowshoe  men  from  the 
mine.  They  were  to  take  up  the  trail 

73 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

of  the  Indian,  follow  and  locate  him  if 
possible,  and  get  what  information  they 
could  as  to  numbers,  location  of  their 
village,  and  return  without  letting 
them  know  they  had  any  interest  what 
ever  in  the  girl  that  was  supposed  to 
be  with  them.  It  was  not  as  easy  to 
follow  the  tracks  as  they  thought  when 
they  first  started  out,  for  Chip  had 
jumped  from  rocks,  over  small  clumps 
of  trees,  and  made  leaps  they  could  not 
make,  even  though  they  had  wished  to. 
So  by  the  time  they  had  come  in  sight 
of  Aunt  Nannie's  place,  it  was  almost 
dark.  They  would  have  to  spend  the 
night  there.  Oneida  saw  them  coming, 
so  had  time  to  run  out  and  tell  Chip  to 
hide,  and  not  come  to  the  house  till  she 
called  him.  She  got  back  into  the  house 
and  Aunt  Nannie  locked  her  in  her  bed 
room.  After  she  had  visited  with  the 
men  a  little  while  she  went  in  and  told 

74 


LOOKING  FOR  KIDNAPPERS 

Oneida  they  were  from  Vienna,  just  a 
couple  of  miners  looking  for  a  band  of 
hostile  Indians,  so  she  could  come  out 
and  help  her  with  the  supper,  and  to 
pass  as  her  daughter.  "Everybody  that 
knows  us,  knows  that  I  have  a  daughter 
Mildred,  so  I'll  call  you  that  and  they 
will  never  suspect  anything,  even 
though  they  are  hunting  you,  which  I 
am  sure  they  are  not." 

Everything  went  well  till  morning. 
Chip  had  grown  tired  of  his  bunk  in 
the  hay,  so  decided  to  get  up  and  go 
down  in  the  meadow  and  feed  the  cattle. 
He  remembered  what  Oneida  had  told 
him  about  keeping  hid,  but  he'd  take  a 
chance.  The  boys  had  not  introduced 
themselves,  so  when  ready  to  start  out 
the  next  morning,  they  left  a  coin  on 
the  table,  said  "good  morning,"  and 
started  out.  They  thought  they  would 
make  a  turn  down  through  the  meadow, 

75 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

and  see  if  they  could  find  which  way  the 
Indian  had  gone;  they  had  traced  him 
to  the  ranch,  and  Aunt  Nannie  had 
told  them  she  had  seen  no  hostile  In 
dians.  But  they  must  find  which  way 
he  had  gone,  or  if  he  was  hanging  about 
the  place  they  must  know  it.  They  saw 
Chip  down  there  carrying  hay  out  to 
the  stock,  so  decided  to  talk  to  him, 
thinking  he  was  the  hired  man,  which 
he  was.  Then  Chip  began  to  figure 
what  he  was  to  do.  He'd  wait  till  they 
had  made  their  talk.  Yes,  he  would 
be  as  ignorant  as  one  of  the  cows  that 
stood  there  munching  hay.  He  kept 
his  back  to  them  till  they  had  come  up 
to  the  stack  yard.  His  buckskin  coat 
and  big  hat  was  the  same  as  many 
Indians  wore. 

"  'Lo,  there,  stranger;  haint  seen  no 
hostile  Injuns  'bout  here,  have  ye?" 

Chip  turned  about,  looking  them  over 

76 


LOOKING  FOR  KIDNAPPERS 

carefully,  but  did  not  answer,  or  make 
any  sign  that  he  understood. 

"Hey,  ye  Commanche  person,  we 
axes  ye,  haint  ye  seen  no  hostiles  'bout 
here.  Ye  no  savy  good  Inglish  as  she  is 
spoke;  air  ye  def  er  whatsa  matter? 
Talk  it  out,  er  we'll  tickle  ye  in  the  ribs 
with  the  ends  o'  our  snowshoes.  We 
tracks  a  varmint  o'  some  kin'  here,  an' 
axes  did  ye  see  it  er  not  an'  which  way 
did  it  go?" 

Chip  knew  by  this  time  that  they 
were  not  friends  of  Aunt  Nannie's,  and 
were  not  wanted  there.  Maybe  they 
had  followed  him  and  were  really  hunt 
ing  for  Oneida.  Yes,  he'd  take  a 
chance;  he'd  do  it;  just  as  he  had 
planned  it  during  the  night  if  he  met 
up  with  them  and  had  to  put  them  off. 
He  would  not  talk  to  them,  that  was 
sure.  Then,  quicker  than  a  flash,  out 
came  two  45s,  and  twelve  shots  flashed 

77 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

so  quick  they  both  fell  back  in  the  snow, 
but  at  a  bound  they  were  up  and  head 
ing  for  the  house.  Chip  reloaded  his 
revolvers,  and  practised  shooting,  using 
their  heels  as  targets,  when  they  would 
go  down  in  the  snow  and  leave  a  foot 
sticking  up.  He  followed  along,  keep 
ing  as  close  to  them  as  he  could,  ming 
ling  Nez  Perce  war  whoops  in  with  the 
noise  of  the  six  shooters.  The  women 
heard  the  noise,  looked  out,  saw  what 
was  going  on,  and  then  laughed  till 
their  sides  ached.  They  managed  to 
stop  by  the  time  the  bold  hunters,  who 
were  out  looking  for  "hostiles,"  had 
reached  the  house. 

"Hey,  lock  the  door,  lock  the  door, 
Injuns,"  both  yelled  at  once  as  they 
rushed  into  the  house. 

"Why,  what's  the  matter,  boys,  you 
seem  frightened,"  said  Aunt  Nannie, 
trying  her  best  to  look  serious  and  un- 

78 


LOOKING  FOR  KIDNAPPERS 

concerned.  "That's  only  Chip,  my 
hired  man,  in  one  of  his  little  playful 
moods.  He  wont  harm  you  if  you  go 
'way  and  let  him  alone." 

"Well,  if  you'll  keep  that  savage  per 
son  away  till  we  get  our  snowshoes  on 
we'll  shore  go,"  and,  while  they  felt 
that  maybe  he  was  harmless,  they  were 
so  scared  they  had  to  be  almost  pushed 
out  of  the  house.  Then  when  they  each 
got  one  snowshoe  on,  Chip  started  his 
war  whoops  again  and  commenced  to 
dance  around  waving  his  six  shooters. 
They  were  certainly  getting  very  ner 
vous  by  this  time,  and  anxious  to  get 
away.  When  out  of  hearing,  Aunt 
Nannie  and  Oneida  went  in  the  house 
and  laughed  till  they  were  exhausted. 
Chip  finally  came  in  and  joined  in  the 
laughing.  "Heap  big  fun.  Wow,"  and 
he  laughed  till  his  sides  hurt. 

The  bold  hunters  did  not  look  back 

79 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

till  they  were  several  miles  away,  and 
had  stopped  to  rest. 

"Say,  Pie  Face,  whatcha  think  it'll 
sample?  Tlayful  mood/  says  the  ol' 
dame.  Now  I'm  not  the  man  'at  wants 
to  re-locate  that  claim.  Look  at  this; 
One  boot  heel  gone  an'  me  snowshoes 
all  shot  to  splinters.  Tlayful  mood.' 
What?" 

"Wall,  pardner,  I  reckon  we  got  to 
do  a  little  samplin'  when  we  gits  in," 
said  Sour  Dough,  "then  we'll  tell  Red- 
wolf  if  he  wants  to  locate  some  'playful 
mood'  claims  to  count  us  out.  That 
savage  jist  eats  men,  yes  sir,  jist  eats 
'em  blood  raw.  That  ol'  Airizoney 
Geromeo,  whatcha  call  'im,  aint  got 
nothin'  on  this  'playful  mood'  person, 
as  the  real  man-eatin'  savage,  no  sir." 

When  they  got  into  town  that  night 
they  were  almost  exhausted,  so  they 
made  for  the  first  saloon  on  the  row, 

80 


LOOKING  FOR  KIDNAPPERS 

and  proceeded  to  "bowl  up."  It  was 
only  a  few  moments  till  they  were  so 
drunk  they  could  not  stand  without 
supporting  themselves  by  holding  onto 
something,  so  their  ravings  about 
'playful  mood'  savages  did  not  attract 
much  attention.  They  were  pushed 
aside,  told  to  stop  pipe  dreaming,  and 
finally  shoved  into  the  back  room  and 
told  to  get  onto  the  old  couch  and  sleep 
it  off. 

Down  at  the  boarding  house,  Uncle 
John  and  his  good  wife  were  sitting  in 
front  of  the  fireplace,  rocking  them 
selves,  and  going  all  over  what  had 
taken  place  since  Oneida  left,  what 
might  have  happened  to  her,  wondering 
where  she  could  be  and  what  that  In 
dian  really  knew  of  her  whereabouts. 

"I  tell  ye,  ma,  if  she's  bin  kidnapped 
agin,  it's  wus  fer  her  now  'an  it  wus 
the  firs'  time,  fer  she  wus  only  a  little 

81 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 
girl    then,    but    now    she's    a    young 


woman." 


"Yes,  pa/'  said  Aunt  Lucy,  "it  may 
be  wus.  We'll  have  to  wait  till  the 
boys  Redwolf  sent  to  follow  that  fellow, 
to  find  out,  though.  We'll  live  in  hopes. 
Don't  ye  remember  what  she  said  when 
Redwolf  threatened  to  put  us  out :  'God 
will  help  us;  we  will  get  along,  some 
how.'  I  am  trusting  God,  pa,  that 
everything  will  be  all  right." 

Down  at  the  ranch,  all  were  so 
pleased  with  the  way  matters  had 
turned  out,  they  forgot  about  the  dan 
ger  they  thought  they  were  in.  Chip 
told  of  the  meeting  with  Oneida's 
father,  and  while  expecting  a  scolding 
for  making  such  a  mess  of  things,  he 
told  it  all  just  as  it  had  happened,  not 
once  trying  to  shield  himself.  He  was 
much  pleased,  then,  when  Oneida  told 
him  she  herself  was  to  blame  in  not 

82 


LOOKING  FOR  KIDNAPPERS 

giving  him  better  instructions,  so  he 
could  have  made  them  realize  she  was 
with  Aunt  Nannie,  and  of  course,  safe 
and  well.  In  answer  to  her  question, 
he  assured  her  he  would  go  back  any 
time  she  wanted  him  to,  and  make 
them  understand. 


83 


VIII 
CHIP  CHIP  IN  PLAYFUL  MOOD 

"Thar  aint  nothin'  to  it,  Uncle  John," 
said  Redwolf  the  next  time  he  went 
down  to  the  boarding  house.  "That 
Indian  person  what  come  up  here  is  a 
workin'  fer  a  oP  dame  down  the  valley 
here.  He's  jist  a  savage  gone  loco,  an' 
has  spells  what  the  oP  woman  calls 
'playful  moods/  but  the  boys  call  it 
war  dances  an'  spittin'  fire.  He'll 
come  up  town,  some  day  an'  we'll  hob 
ble  'im  an'  throw  'im  down  the  moun 
tain.  Watch  me  when  I  claps  an  eye 
on  'im.  Oneida  is  dead,  er  livin',  we 
don't  know  which,  but  anyway,  she's 
up  yonder  somewhere,  she  couldn't  a 
got  that  fer  down  the  valley." 

Then  he  looked  over  the  old  man's 
shoulder  and  saw  the  tears  rolling  down 
Mrs.  Bruneau's  face.  Realizing  that 

85 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

he  had  not  comforted  them  much,  he 
turned  to  go,  but  stopped  and  told  them 
he  would  continue  the  search  and  re 
port  as  soon  as  he  found  any  trace  of 
the  girl. 

It  was  about  a  week  after  this  that 
Oneida  asked  Chip  to  go  back  to  the 
boarding  house  and  see  her  parents 
again.  She  would  write  a  letter  this 
time  to  help  him  out.  The  snow  had 
packed  down  so  the  going  would  be 
easier.  Then  on  his  way  back  he  could 
come  through  town  and  bring  out  a  few 
things  for  she  and  Aunt  Nannie. 

"Come  here,  ma,  come  here.  Praise 
God,  praise  God,  Oneida  lives." 

Chip  had  handed  Uncle  John  the  let 
ter,  and  told  him  that  it  was  he  that 
had  helped  her  make  her  escape  from 
the  Indians.  That  he  was  Chip  Chip, 
and  had  always  treated  their  daughter 
as  though  she  were  his  sister.  That 

86 


CHIP  CHIP  IN  PLAYFUL  MOOD 

they  were  at  Aunt  Nannie's  and  were 
all  very  happy.  Oneida  had  told  him 
all  about  their  troubles  with  Redwolf, 
and  that  he  would  soon  go  on  a  trip  to 
carry  her  talk  paper  to  Kuna.  Then 
when  he  assured  them  he  forgave  Uncle 
John  for  the  treatment  he  received  the 
first  time  he  came,  their  happiness  was 
complete.  He  told  them  also  about  the 
visit  of  the  two  fellows  that  followed 
him,  and  sizing  them  up  as  tools  of 
Redwolf,  went  through  all  the  high 
jinks  he  cut  that  morning,  omitting 
only  the  shooting  and  yelling.  Then 
Uncle  John  and  Aunt  Lucy  both  cried 
some  more,  but  this  time  it  was  from 
laughing. 

Chip  soon  took  his  leave,  having  ex 
plained  that  he  must  go  by  town  and 
get  some  things  for  Oneida  and  Aunt 
Nannie.  Then  he  reached  up  under 


87 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

his  coat,  unbuckled  a  belt,  and  handed 
it  to  Uncle  John. 

"This  full  money.  You  keep'm. 
When  Chip  Chip  wants  'm,  he  come 
back.  No  come  back,  all  yours  an' 
Oneida's.  My  folks,  well  do,  heap  big 
ranch,  lots  cattle.  Live'm  by  Indians, 
maybeso  why  you  think  me  Indian. 
Huh.  Git  book  lessons  every  day,  by'm 
by  talk  better.  Oneida  help  me.  So 
you  keep'm  belt,  more  chickamin  here," 
and  he  drew  a  wallet  from  his  pocket 
to  show  them  that  he  still  had  all  the 
money  he  needed  to  carry  him  through 
the  winter.  Then  with  a  final  hand 
shake,  and  a  "Kalhowa  Tilikums,"  he 
hurried  off  down  the  path  to  where  he 
had  left  his  snowshoes.  When  he 
reached  town  he  had  to  go  in  past  the 
Dance  Hall,  so  stopped  to  look  in.  He 
saw 


88 


CHIP  CHIP  IN  PLAYFUL  MOOD 

"A  glittering  mirror  and  a  polished 

bar, 
Long  rows  of  glasses,  more  Lum  by 

far 
Than  he  could  drink,  if   he    had    a 

chance, 
In    a    hundred    years;    no  he'd  not 

dance." 

Would  he  take  a  drink?  Here  was 
the  opportunity,  and  he  certainly  had 
the  thirst.  Then  came  the  fight  with 
the  devil  that  is  said  to  inhabit,  or  lurk 
about  everyone,  and  the  size  of  that 
devil  depends  on  how  much  influence 
he  has  been  able  to  wield  over  that  per 
son  in  the  past.  If  he  has  had  his  way 
very  long,  he  has  grown  strong,  is 
very  subtle,  and  puts  up  a  mighty  talk 
about  "his  evil  ways  being  paths  of 
joy."  He  was  now  urging  Chip  to  go 
in  and  get  a  drink  of  fire  water.  Chip 
listened  to  that  coaxing,  and  something 

89 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

told  him  to  go  get  a  drink,  then  go  buy 
the  things  they  sent  him  after,  then 
another  drink  and  go  home.  The  bar 
boy,  seeing  him  hesitate,  set  out  a  bottle 
and  motioned  him  to  come  take  some 
thing.  He  stepped  over  to  the  bar, 
poured  out  a  big  drink  of  whiskey, 
raised  the  glass  to  his  mouth,  then  set 
it  down.  "No,"  was  all  he  said,  then 
hurried  out  of  the  building  and  went 
to  the  store  and  made  his  purchases.  He 
would  not  go  back  that  way;  he  would 
get  out  of  town  another  way.  As  he 
turned  the  corner,  he  ran  into  Sour 
Dough  and  Pie  Face.  They  at  once 
turned  in  the  alarm  by  rushing  into  the 
first  saloon  and  passing  the  word  to 
the  gamblers,  then  onto  the  next  place, 
till  Chip  began  to  think  he  was  "some 
boy"  to  attract  so  much  attention.  Pie 
Face  soon  found  Redwolf,  and  told  him 
the  "loco  man-eatin'  savage  is  out  there 

90 


CHIP  CHIP  IN  PLAYFUL  MOOD 

in  the  street,  and  to  come  an'  git  it." 
Red  had  told  what  he  would  do  if  it 
ever  come  to  town.  Yes,  he  would  go 
and  interview  this  savage.  Everybody 
came  out,  all  wanted  to  see  what  was 
going  on.  Sour  Dough  and  Pie  Face 
did  not  join  the  little  group  that  had 
gathered  to  talk  with  the  Indian  boy, 
they  had  business  up  the  street.  When 
Red  arrived  where  the  boys  had,  in  a 
way,  surrounded  Chip,  he  pushed  his 
way  in  and  stood  facing  the  boy.  He 
had  thought  he  would  make  one  big 
bluff  and  scare  the  fellow  half  to  death. 
Chip  was  standing  with  his  back  to  the 
building,  and  had  stood  his  snowshoes 
up  by  his  side. 

"Whatcha  doin'  here,  ye  loco  savage, 
ye,"  Red  yelled  at  the  top  of  his  voice, 
at  the  same  time  making  a  move  as  if 
he  were  going  to  lunge  in  and  take  the 
boy  by  the  throat.  Chip  never  moved 

91 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

a  hand,  merely  stood  there,  his  face  as 
expressionless  as  a  cigar  sign  Indian. 

"Say,  ye  pink  eyed  loco  savage,  aint 
ye  goin'  to  talk?  Well,  we'll  jist  see. 
Stickin'  'round  here  tryin'  to  kidnap 
'nother  girl,  air  ye?  Gun  man  savage, 
too?  Well,  why  don't  ye  cut  er  loose 
er  say  somethin'.  Want  me  ter  pinch 
yer  nose  f  er  ye,  which  I  guesses  I'll  have 
to  do  since  ye  can't  be  insulted  by 
words.  Maybe  then  I'll  shoot  ye  up 


some." 


Chip  made  no  reply,  but  those  eyes  of 
his  were  now  looking  clear  through 
Redwolf .  He  knew  the  big  fellow  was 
bluffing,  so  he  waited.  Red  was  getting 
cold  feet,  the  crowd  was  quietly  slip 
ping  away,  and  his  bluff  had  not 
worked.  He  must  do  something,  so  he 
made  a  pass  as  if  he  intended  to  pull 
his  gun.  He  was  way  and  by  far  too 
slow.  Chip  had  his  guns  out  and  work- 

92 


CHIP  CHIP  IN  PLAYFUL  MOOD 

ing  overtime  before  Red  got  his  hand 
half-way  to  his  hip.  But  it  was  just 
one  of  his  "playful  moods/'  he  was 
shooting  at  the  snow  where  Red  was 
standing.  Then  a  couple  of  those  war 
whoops,  and  the  meeting  was  ad 
journed.  He  tied  on  his  snowshoes, 
gave  a  few  more  whoops  and  a  "wow, 
you  big  coward,  come  and  git  me.  Said 
ye'd  shoot  me  up  some;  why  didn't  ye 
do  it,"  and  started  home. 

Then  came  another  fight  with  that 
something  that  kept  telling  him  he 
ought  to  go  and  get  a  drink  before  he 
went  home.  Several  times  he  hesitated 
after  starting,  but  realizing  if  he  took 
one  drink  he  would  never  leave  the  bar 
as  long  as  he  could  stand  up,  he  turned 
back  to  the  store,  bought  him  a  pipe 
and  a  generous  supply  of  tobacco,  then 
in  a  few  moments  he  was  going  "fast 


93 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

like  the  birds  fly/'  and  was  soon  at  the 
ranch. 

After  supper  that  evening,  Chip  re 
lated  the  day's  experience.  Everything 
had  worked  out  so  nicely,  that  Oneida 
congratulated  Chip,  and  while  she  and 
Aunt  Nannie  had  enjoyed  another  good 
laugh,  she  was  not  quite  sure  the  fun 
he  had  with  Red  was  all  right.  So  she 
cautioned  him  to  watch,  for  he  would 
seek  revenge.  She  felt  sure  of  this. 

Chip  at  once  set  out  digging  paths 
through  the  snow,  so  Oneida  and  Aunt 
Nannie  could  get  out  to  the  corrals  and 
stable  to  look  after  the  stock.  Then  he 
carried  poles  and  made  a  long  feed  rack 
and  filled  it  with  hay.  This  would  last 
the  stock  a  month,  and  the  spring  near 
the  corral  which  never  froze  over,  sup 
plied  the  water  for  the  stock.  When  he 
had  finished  this  work,  so  the  stock 
could  care  for  themselves,  and  cut  wood 

94 


CHIP  CHIP  IN  PLAYFUL  MOOD 

and  stacked  it  up  in  the  shed,  he  told 
Oneida  he  was  going  out  to  find  Kuna. 
She  had  drawn  a  sketch  of  the  country 
as  best  she  could,  and  told  him  how  to 
get  to  the  pass  through  the  mountains 
to  the  south.  He  could  easily  find  the 
way  from  there. 

"Carry  the  letter  to  Kuna  Tom,  and 
stay  with  him  a  month  if  you  want  to/' 
said  Oneida,  as  she  helped  him  get  his 
pack  ready.  "Aunt  Nannie  and  I  will 
get  along  all  right,  so*  do  not  worry 
about  us.  Your  medicine  is  strong; 
you  go  "fast  like  the  birds  fly/'  but  you 
must  carry  heap  muck-a-muck,  and 
blankets.  It  will  be  a  hard  trip;  you 
may  have  to  sleep  out  in  the  snow  be 
fore  you  get  through." 

He  had  planned  all  this  as  carefully 
as  she  had,  for  he  knew  the  mountains 
and  the  treachery  of  the  snow  as  well 
as  any  one,  and  knew  at  a  glance  which 

95 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

side  of  the  canyon  to  keep  on  to  be  in  the 
least  danger  from  snowslides.  The  snow 
was  packed  down  and  the  weather  fine 
for  that  season  of  the  year,  so  he  made 
good  time.  He  ran  into  a  severe  storm 
on  Galena  summit,  but  soon  made  his 
way  over  and  started  down  "fast  like 
the  birds  fly."  But  when  going  at  a 
speed  much  faster  than  one  who  is  not 
familiar  with  such  things  would  think 
it  possible  to  go,  he  saw  a  big  tree 
across  his  path,  and  not  being  able  to 
turn,  attempted  to  jump  it.  He  must 
clear  some  limbs  and  smaller  trees  that 
had  been  bent  over,  which  obstructed 
his  view,  the  result  of  it  all  being  a  fall 
over  the  edge  of  a  bluff,  a  few  bruises 
and  a  broken  snowshoe.  Then  came  the 
fight  with  the  snow  that  at  times  cov 
ered  him  entirely,  for  the  crust  would 
not  hold  him  up  without  his  snowshoes. 
His  wonderful  strength  saved  him,  and 

96 


CHIP  CHIP  IN  PLAYFUL  MOOD 

he  finally  found  an  old  deserted  miners 
cabin.  Here  he  spent  the  night,  mend 
ed  his  shoe,  and  by  dusk  the  next  day 
had  reached  the  K  0  ranch.  First,  of 
course,  was  the  reading  of  Onedia's 
letter  and  Chip's  story  of  what  had  hap 
pened  since  he  found  the  girl  in  the  big 
snow  storm.  Then  he  added: 

"Maybe  ye'll  think  it  wus  all  wrong, 
Kuna,  all  wrong  fer  me  to  tell  ye  that 
me  an'  Oneida  stayed  that  night  alone 
in  yer  cabin.  But  I  hope  ye  wont.  We 
were  together  nearly  every  summer 
when  she  was  with  the  Indians,  and 
were  like  brother  an'  sister.  I  helped 
her  to  git  home.  Ye  might  call  it  'mak- 
in'  her  escape/  but  there  wus  nothin'  to 
escape  from  but  some  old  squaws,  when 
the  scrap  wus  over.  I  knew  where  her 
folks  lived,  so  took  her  home.  I  left 
her,  but  got  lonesome,  and  run  away  to 
find  her.  Now  you  know  it  all.  If  ye 

97 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

don't  believe  me;  if  ye  think  I  have 
harmed  her  in  any  way  —  you  know, 
disgraced  her — so  folks  '11  talk  about 
her,  Fll  go  back  an'  fix  up  papers  sayin' 
I  faked  the  story,  then  hike.  She's  the 
same  as  a  sister  to  me,  an'  no  harm  '11 
come  to  her  when  I'm  'round  'thout 
me  being  put  out  o'  the  way  first.  Be 
lieve  me,  friend?" 

Oneida  had  not  written  Kuna  any 
thing  about  these  matters ;  she  had  told 
him  where  she  was  staying;  that  Chip 
was  worthy  of  his  respect  and  friend 
ship,  leaving  the  rest  for  Chip  to  tell  in 
his  own  way  and  in  his  own  time.  Kuna 
had  hardly  batted  an  eye  during  the 
time  Chip  was  telling  his  story,  but  he 
knew  he  was  telling  the  truth  and  that 
standing  there  before  him  was — a  man. 
Tears  had  filled  his  eyes,  but  as  his 
hand  was  extended  to  Chip,  he  said: 

"Yes,  I  believe  you.    And  from  this 

98 


CHIP  CHIP  IN  PLAYFUL  MOOD 

day,  you  and  I  will  be  as  brothers," 
and  they  sealed  the  pledge  by  shaking 
hands.  And,  the  vow  that  was  made 
by  these  two  men  that  day  at  the  K  0 
ranch  has  been  kept  all  through  the 
years,  even  to  the  present  day. 


99 


IX 
THE  BIG  FIGHT 

Chip  found  life  at  the  ranch  with 
Kuna  and  the  half  dozen  riders  that 
spent  most  of  their  time  there,  very 
pleasant.  He  was  an  expert  horseman, 
a  splendid  roper,  so  he  got  along  nicely. 
After  the  stock  had  all  been  looked 
after,  the  remainder  of  the  day  would 
be  spent  in  reading  and  study.  There 
were  exceptions  to  this  rule,  for  they 
often  took  long  rides  to  look  after  the 
cattle.  Stock  wintered  in  those  days, 
all  over  Southern  Idaho,  out  on  the 
range.  No  one  ever  thought  of  putting 
up  hay,  except  a  little  for  the  saddle 
horses  that  were  kept  up.  It  was  on 
one  of  these  rides  that  Chip  got  his 
first  view  of  the  "Mighty  Tumwater," 
Shoshone  Falls.  Then  there  were  other 
diversions,  too,  many  an  hour  was 

101 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

spent  with  the  boxing  gloves.  They  all 
enjoyed  this  pastime,  and  had  someone 
come  along  just  before  Christmas-time 
that  winter,  he  could  have  found  two  or 
three  "white  hopes,"  and  one  with  a 
trace  of  Red,  at  the  K  0  ranch.  Then, 
after  he  had  stayed  several  days  longer 
than  he  had  intended,  Chip  told  the 
boys  he  must  go  back  to  the  ranch  on  the 
Salmon;  Aunt  Nannie  and  Oneida 
might  need  him.  Yes,  he  must  go,  but 
the  parting  was  not  easy;  he  loved 
those  big-hearted,  kindly  boys  he  had 
found  there,  and  they  loved  him.  But 
Kuna  sketched  him  out  a  route,  much 
better  than  the  one  he  had  come  over 
on  his  trip  down,  and  directed  him  so 
he  could  find  ranches  to  stop  at  for  food 
and  shelter.  But  he  would  take  plenty 
of  provision,  for  more  men  lost  their 
way  making  such  trips,  than  got 
through  according  to  plans.  He  would 

102 


THE  BIG  FIGHT 

take  in  two  big  turkeys.  Yes,  he  could 
carry  them,  one  for  Aunt  Nannie  and 
Oneida,  the  other  for  Uncle  John  and 
Aunt  Lucy.  He  could  get  home  in  time 
so  they  could  have  the  birds  for  New 
Years  dinner.  And  he  did,  but  such  a 
trip.  Bucking  the  snow,  sleeping,  or 
rather  staying  out  two  nights,  fighting 
to  keep  from  freezing,  then  when  he 
reached  "the  top  of  the  world/'  rode  a 
snowslide  back  to  the  "bottom  of  the 
world,"  and  had  to  make  the  climb 
again.  His  wonderful  strength  and  en 
durance  had  again  saved  him,  and  the 
birds  were  delivered  in  time  for  the 
New  Years  dinner,  as  planned.  But 
figured  at  anything  like  a  fair  price, 
they  were  the  most  expensive  turkeys 
ever  served  on  the  Salmon  River. 

"Everything  has  gone  well  with  us," 
said  Oneida,  when  Chip  got  home.  "We 
have  had  no  trouble  at  all." 

103 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

And  so  he  found  things  at  the  board 
ing  house.  Uncle  John  and  Aunt  Lucy 
were  well  and  happy.  But  up  at  the  old 
town  and  about  the  Grabber  Mining 
Company's  properties,  things  had  sure 
ly  gone  to  the  bad.  This  was  the  view 
Red  took  of  matters,  and  it  must  have 
been  so.  Everyone  in  camp  knew  the 
"playful  mood  boy" — for  this  was  the 
name  they  gave  him — had  called  the 
"big  bluffer,"  and  got  away  with  it. 
Red  had  attempted  to  buy  the  good-will 
of  these  men  by  supplying  the  drinks 
on  every  occasion  when  that,  to  him, 
unfortunate  affair  was  mentioned.  But 
he  was  not  making  much  headway. 
They  would  gather  around  him,  and 
talk  just  as  if  he  were  not  present,  and 
every  time  the  story  of  the  "coming  of 
the  playful  mood  person"  was  told,  it 
got  worse.  What  one  could  not  think 
of  another  could.  And,  it  was  told  over 

104 


THE  BIG  FIGHT 

and  over,  as  long  as  Red  would  stay 
around.  If  he  spent  too  much  of  his 
time  at  the  office,  the  boys  would  go  and 
get  him,  then  the  fun  would  start  all 
over  again. 

"It  wus  back  in  airly  day,  a  big  feller 
drifts  inter  camp  here  an'  goes  herdin' 
prospectors  fer  a  big  minin'  company. 
He  wus  a  big,  powerful  feller,  an'  had 
three  notches  on  the  handle  o'  his  six 
gun.  He  wus  shore  a  bad  man.  He 
brags  a  heap  an'  puts  it  over,  fer  we 
aint  lookin'  fer  trouble  none.  Then  we 
fin's  out  he  wus  the  biggest  coward  an' 
bluffer  in  seven  states.  Hones',  he 
wouldn't  a  scrapped  a  snowshoe  rabbit. 
We  fin's  this  out  one  day  when  a  little, 
dwarfed  'playful  mood  person'  comes 
in,  that  the  big  bluffer  had  said  he  would 
hobble  an'  put  in  cold  storage,  when, 
bang,  bang,  the  lad  has  the  scenery  all 
perforated  around  the  big  feller's  feet. 

105 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

Wot,  o'boy.  Yer  should  have  seen  the 
coward  run.  He  made  it  down  from 
yonder,  back  o'  the  store,  up  to  the  Top 
Light  Saloon,  one  hundred  an'  thirty- 
nine  yards,  in  ten  seconds  flat.  A  most 
magnificent  burst  o'  speed;  a  record 
'thout  a  par'lell  in  the  whole  country." 

"An'  turned  one  squar  corner  on  the 
track!" 

No  matter  who  told  the  story,  and 
there  were  as  many  versions  as  there 
were  men  to  tell  it,  some  one  would  al 
ways  add  the  last  line,  about  the  square 
turn  in  the  track.  Red  would  usually 
"buy"  before  the  story  was  finished. 
Then  the  town  wag,  as  he  was  called, 
would  get  to  going.  Red  hated  him  the 
worst  of  any  of  the  gang,  and  that  was 
saying  a  great  deal.  He  put  it  into 
song.  He  had  made  up  several  verses, 
but  usually  started  off  with  this  one, 
everybody  joining  in  the  "Wow,"  as 
106 


THE  BIG  FIGHT 

loud  as  they  could  whoop  it  up.  If  Red 
didn't  come  through  with  the  drinks  for 
the  house,  the  singing  was  continued 
until  he  did. 

"0,  he  said  he  was  a  fighter — a  gunman 

that  was  bad, 
An'  had  us  bluffed  a-plenty  here  in 

town, 
But  did  you  see  the  fun — did  you  see 

the  piker  run 

When    the    Tlayful    Mood    Person' 
called  him  down? 

Wow!    Wow!    Wow!" 

So  the  weeks  passed.  Life  was  not 
worth  the  living  for  Red.  He  couldn't 
get  away,  and  his  cup  was  full  and  run 
ning  over.  He  must  keep  his  temper, 
though,  nobody  else  wanted  it,  and  think 
of  some  way  to  redeem  himself.  But 
each  day  the  boys  took  a  cup  of  "the 
milk  of  human  kindness,  and  churned 
it  into  limberger  cheese,"  and  they  made 

107 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

Red  say  he  liked  it.  Spring  was  coming ; 
he  would  show  them.  He  would  make 
no  more  gun  talk,  and  even  went  about 
camp  without  his  revolvers.  He  was 
afraid  he  might  kill  someone,  and  that 
would  mean  another  term  in  the  Pen. 
When  he  would  think  of  another  trip 
over  the  road,  he  would  get  cold  feet. 
"I'll  do  it  with  my  two  hands.  I  will 
break  him  in  two  an'  throw  half  o'  him 
down  the  mountain  into  the  Boise  River 
an'  the  other  half  down  in  the  Salmon. 
Shore,  I  kin  do  it." 

This  was  the  talk  he  would  make 
when  going  over  what  he  would  do  to 
Kuna  when  he  got  sight  of  him.  "An' 
the  'playful  mood  person'  '11  git  the  same 
when  I  ketch  'im  'ith  his  guns  off.  Self- 
defense  '11  save  me  that  way,  an'  I'll 
wipe  'em  off  the  face  o'  the  earth." 

Kuna  had  come  up  from  the  ranch, 
and  he  and  Chip  had  been  at  work  on 

108 


THE  BIG  FIGHT 

the  Wild  Horse  claim  several  days  be 
fore  Redwolf  knew  anything  about  it. 
He  thought  of  course  that  Kuna  was 
alone,  so  he  confides  in  a  couple  of  gam 
blers,  pays  them  to  go  along  as  witnesses 
and  see  the  fight. 

"Ye  air  to  go  'long  an'  see  it's  a  fair 
fight.  0'  course,  if  he  gits  me  down  an' 
ye  think  he's  got  a  chanct  t'  hurt  me, 
ye'll  turn  'im  over  an'  kick  'im  in  the 
slats.  But,  he'll  never  touch  me."  Then 
he  would  parade  back  and  forth  before 
them  so  they  could  note  his  great,  well- 
formed  body,  that  looked  as  if  he  had 
strength  enough  to  kill  an  ox  with  a 
single  blow. 

Kuna  and  Chip  had  just  finished  their 
noonday  meal  when  the  three  rode  up 
to  the  claim.  Red  stopped  a  little  way 
back  and  told  the  other  fellows  to  get 
Kuna  down  there  and  to  see  that  he  had 
no  gun.  They  went  on  up  to  the  cabin, 

109 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

called  him  out  and  asked  him  to  come 
and  help  them  with  a  friend  who  was 
not  feeling  well.  They  did  not  see  Chip, 
but  he  saw  them,  and  followed  along.  A 
short  distance  from  the  cabin,  Red 
stepped  out  of  his  hiding  place  and  told 
Kuna  what  he  had  come  for,  and  it  was 
to  be  a  fight  to  the  finish — with  life,  the 
claim  and  the  girl  as  the  prize.  As  in 
ancient  times,  it  would  be  "the  survival 
of  the  fittest."  It  was  the  chance  that 
Kuna  had  long  hoped  for,  so  he  accepted 
the  challenge  gladly.  He  realized,  how-^ 
ever,  what  it  all  meant;  what  a  giant 
he  had  to  whip.  Then  he  called  Chip  to 
come  and  see  fair  play.  Red  and  his 
two  companions  had  not  seen  him,  they 
thinking  until  now  that  Kuna  was  alone 
and  that  there  would  be  but  one  outcome 
to  the  fight.  But  there  could  be  no  back 
down  now ;  he  simply  had  to  fight  it  out. 
They  went  at  it  without  any  further 

110 


THE  BIG  FIGHT 

parley.  If  a  comparison  could  be  made, 
it  was  Science  and  Caution  combined 
with  the  quickness  and  cunning  of  the 
Cougar,  against  the  ferocity  and  brute 
strength  of  the  Grizzley.  Four  times 
had  Kuna  stretched  the  great  giant  full 
length  on  the  ground,  before  Red  real 
ized  he  stood  no  show  at  that  way  of 
fighting.  He  must  get  a  hold,  then  with 
his  great  hands  he  would  crush  him. 
But  to  get  that  hold,  ah,  that  was  the 
question.  Try  as  he  would,  he  always 
ran  into  a  well-directed  blow.  But, 
finally,  with  a  rush  that  Kuna  could  not 
stop,  he  got  his  hold,  and  down  they 
went.  Over  and  over  they  rolled,  Kuna 
fighting  to  free  himself,  Red  trying  for 
a  grip  on  the  throat.  And  slowly  but 
surely  he  drew  Kuna  down  and  secured 
that  hold.  Here,  then,  was  the  deciding 
point  of  the  battle;  could  Kuna  break 
that  grip.  He  felt  the  hand  tighten, 

111 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

and  knew  in  a  moment  more  his  wind 
would  be  gone  and  then — he  tore  that 
hand  loose,  and  gave  Red  such  a  beating 
that  the  three  watchers  thought  he  had 
killed  him.  Not  so.  By  the  time  he 
was  up,  after  freeing  himself2  Red  was 
up  and  after  him.  But  he  never  got 
that  hold  on  the  throat  again.  On  they 
fought,  Red  taking  the  big  end  of  the 
punishment.  Would  Kuna's  strength 
hold  out?  Chip  thought  it  would  when 
the  two  gamblers  suggested  stopping 
the  fight  and  call  it  a  draw.  They  took 
Chip  at  his  word,  too,  and  kept  away. 
The  men  would  fight  and  rest,  then  fight 
again.  In  the  language  of  the  prize 
ring,  Kuna  had  his  man  going,  so  he 
slowed  up  a  little.  Then,  when  rested, 
so  he  could  put  the  strength  behind  the 
blows  to  make  them  count,  he  went  at 
his  man  and  soon  finished  him  with  a 
right,  square  on  the  point  of  his  jaw. 

112 


THE  BIG  FIGHT 

Red  was  whipped,  and  by  a  man  fully 
thirty-five  pounds  lighter.  But  it  took 
almost  an  hour  to  do  it.  Fair  and 
square,  the  Giant  had  been  beaten.  Re 
venge?  Yes,  he'd  have  revenge,  so  went 
to  wearing  his  guns  again,  as  soon  as 
he  was  able  to  be  out.  But  that  was  not 
for  some  time,  for  he  had  taken  an 
awful  beating.  He  became  boastful, 
and,  unfortunately  for  him,  threatened 
the  lives  of  both  Kuna  and  Chip.  He 
would  get  them  the  next  time  they  met. 
Wrong  again.  Chip  got  him. 


113 


X 

THE  TRIAL— THEN  GOOD  BYE  TO 
THE  SAWTOOTH 

"Self -defense,"  was  the  way  the  ver 
dict  read  when  the  coroner's  jury  had 
heard  the  evidence,  so  Chip  went  free. 
But  the  verdict  did  not  stand,  for  it  had 
been  whispered  around  that  his  father 
was  very  wealthy  and  would  pay  a  good 
round  sum  to  keep  him  out  of  prison. 
Witnesses  were  hired,  and  a  lawyer  who 
had  barely  escaped  the  court  of  Judge 
Lynch  several  times,  made  complaint 
and  had  Chip  arrested  again.  The 
prosecution  found  some  sympathy,  too, 
because  the  defendant  was  supposed  to 
be  part  Indian.  There  were  plenty  of 
men  so  prejudiced  against  the  Red  man 
that  they  did  not  consider  it  a  crime 
worth  mentioning  to  swear  against 
them. 

115 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

Spring  had  come  by  the  time  all  these 
matters  had  been  arranged,  prospectors 
were  coming  in  and  the  old  town  was 
taking  on  new  life.  Chip  walked  out  to 
the  sheriff  when  called  upon  to  surren 
der,  unbuckled  his  belt  and  passed  over 
his  guns.  He  feared  nothing  nor  no 
body,  so  refused  to  send  word  to  his 
father.  He  gave  the  sheriff  no  trouble 
whatever,  but  must  be  put  in  jail,  as 
the  judge  could  see  no  way  to  let  him 
out  on  bail,  as  he  was  charged  with 
murder.  Kuna  had  taken  up  the  matter 
for  Chip,  and  was  ready  to  go  with 
plenty  of  "good  men  and  true,"  as  wit 
nesses,  whose  testimony  would  clear  the 
boy,  if  he  could  find  the  right  lawyer — 
one  who  would  show  up  these  false  ac 
cusers.  He  kept  looking  about  for  such 
a  man.  He  was  on  hand  with  his  wit 
nesses  a  day  before  the  case  was  called, 
and  met  a  young  attorney  who  had  come 

116 


THE  TRIAL— THEN  GOOD  BYE 

over  from  Idaho  City.  He  liked  the 
looks  of  this  young  man,  and  at  once 
told  him  the  whole  story. 

"I  will  not  only  clear  that  boy,"  this 
young  lawyer  told  him,  "but  unless  they 
make  tracks  out  of  here,  and  that  pretty 
fast,  too,  Fll  put  the  whole  gang  in  the 
Pen  for  perjury.  Let  them  go  ahead 
and  swear  to  those  lies,  then  if  you  have 
the  men  here  you  say  you  have,  we  will 
impeach  them  and  have  the  whole 
bunch,  their  lawyer  and  all,  arrested." 

The  prosecution  had  fixed  up  a  strong 
case;  there  was  no  question  about  that. 
The  only  trouble  was,  a  fear  that  the 
witnesses  might  not  hold  together,  as 
Mr.  Stratty,  the  lawyer,  had  planned, 
and  tried  to  make  himself  believe  they 
would.  He  had  seen  the  defendant, 
made  him  a  proposition ;  fearing  some 
thing  might  not  go  just  as  he  had  told 
himself  it  would.  But  Chip  refused  to 

117 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

have  anything  to  do  with  this  "legal 
Napoleon,"  as  he  liked  to  refer  to  him 
self  when  summing  up  the  case.  He 
tried  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  the 
jury  that  he  was  a  self-made  man,  that 
his  actions  had  always  been  above  re 
proach  ;  that  the  defendant  had  tried  to 
bribe  him ;  that  he  was  prompted  by  a 
desire  to  see  justice  meted  out  to  the 
guilty  at  all  times,  and  expected  no  fee 
for  the  great  sacrifice  he  was  making 
in  consenting  to  prosecute  the  case.  His 
talk  was  merely  a  boost  for  Attorney 
Stratty.  The  witnesses  for  the  prose 
cution  were  called,  and  one  after  the 
other,  seven  of  them  in  all,  swore  to  the 
same  thing,  word  for  word.  The  Judge, 
having  no  acquaintance  with  any  of  the 
witnesses,  nor  the  attorney,  either,  for 
that  matter,  had  rather  sided  with  the 
prosecution.  He  was  not  aware  that 
Redwolf  had  threatened  the  life  of  the 

118 


THE  TRIAL— THEN  GOOD  BYE 

defendant,  neither  was  he  aware  of  the 
fact  that  the  whole  case  was  a  plan  of 
this  lawyer  to  get  a  big  fee  out  of  the 
defendant's  father.  He  began  to  "see 
things,"  however,  by  the  time  the  pros 
ecution  had  presented  their  side  of  the 
case.  Then  the  unexpected  happened. 
"If  it  please  the  Court,"  said  Jim 
Worth,  who  up  to  this  time  had  said  but 
little,  for  he  had  been  merely  waiting 
for  the  witnesses  for  the  prosecution  to 
give  their  testimony  so  he  would  be  able 
to  map  out  his  plans,  "I  now  ask  for  a 
postponement  of  this  case  till  ten  o'clock 
tomorrow.  I  know,  and  I  believe  every 
one  in  this  court  room  thinks  as  I  do, 
that  these  men  have  sworn  falsely,  and 
furthermore,  we  can  prove  it.  This 
lawyer,  gentlemen,  will  find  that  To 
him  that  hath  shall  be  given,  even  o' 
trouble,  for,  when  opportunity  comes 
our  way  an'  we  grab  hold  o'  the  tail  o' 

119 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

the  Golden  Calf,  there  is  usually  a  very 
pretty  race  'til  the  Calf  gits  away.'  He 
has  told  us  he  is  a  self-made  man.  Well, 
when  I  tell  you  what  I  know  about  his 
actions  in  this  case,  you  will  begin  to 
wonder  what  was  wrong  with  the  ma 
terial  he  used.  Maybe  he  thought  it 
'cute/  as  he  rather  hinted  it  was,  to 
bring  this  defendant  here  after  a  cor 
oner's  jury  had  freed  him  of  the  crime 
he  is  charged  with,  but  my  friends, 
cuteness  abideth  not  in  this  big,  free 
land  of  ours — this  Idaho  land — part  of 
that  great  land  known  as  God's  country. 
A  man  with  a  thirst  for  glory,  as  this 
lawyer  would  have  you  believe  he  has, 
will,  I  think,  find  the  thirst  he  really 
has  the  same  kind  of  thirst  the  Gov 
ernor  of  North  Carolina  had  when  he 
spoke  those  kindly  words  to  the  Gov 
ernor  of  South  Carolina.  He  said  some 
thing  about  the  Golden  Rule.  Gentle- 

120 


THE  TRIAL— THEN  GOOD  BYE 

men,  this  kind  of  a  man,  that  wants  you 
to  do  by  him  the  way  he'd  be  willin'  to 
do  by  you,  usually  wants  you  to  do  the 
doin'  first.  And  with  such  as  he,  when 
it  comes  to  doing  real  charitable  acts, 
if  you  will  only  have  a  look,  you  will 
find  they  are  trying  to  feather  their 
nests  with  'cash  down/  Now,  Mr. 
Stratty  tells  us  his  character  is  above 
reproach.  I  hope  it  is  now,  for  it  has 
not  always  been  so.  He  not  only  tried 
to  sell  out  to  the  defendant,  but  put  on 
a  bargain  sale  and  marked  himself 
down  below  cost.  Now,  Your  Honor,  I 
know  these  men  have  all  sworn  falsely, 
just  as  well  as  they  do,  so  I  shall  prepare 
papers  in  the  case  we  will  file  against 
them,  and  the  sheriff  can  arrest  them 
with  their  lawyer.  It  means  a  long 
term  in  the  Penitentiary  for  all  of  them. 
Mr.  Sheriff,  if  you  find  any  of  these  men 
in  the  jurisdiction  of  this  court  at  ten 

121 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

o'clock  tomorrow,  you  will  bring  them 
in  here.  Then  they  will  learn  what  the 
penalty  is  for  Bearing  False  Witness. 
They  know,  and  we  know  that  Redwolf 
Jess  not  only  threatened  the  life  of  the 
defendant,  but  the  life  of  Kuna  Tom, 
also.  If  you,  Mr.  Stratty,  and  you,  gen 
tlemen,  who  have  testified  in  this  case 
will  just  stick  'round  here  till  tomorrow 
you'll  see  the  finish  of  the  greatest 
trumped  up  case  ever  tried  in  Mountain 
County." 

The  next  morning,  when  court  con 
vened,  the  witnesses  for  the  prosecution 
and  their  lawyer,  failed  to  appear. 
Eight  riders  could  have  been  seen,  how 
ever,  could  one  have  looked  across  the 
mountains  toward  Big  Lost  River. 
And,  they  were  making  fairly  good  time 
too,  considering  they  had  been  in  the 
saddle  all  night. 

Jim's  motion  to  dismiss  the  case  was 

122 


THE  TRIAL— THEN  GOOD  BYE 

sustained,  and  Chip  walked  out  of  the 
court  room  a  free  man.  Jim's  plan  had 
worked,  and  the  trumped  up  charges 
of  these  men,  backed  by  a  shyster  law 
yer,  to  pull  down  a  big  wad  of  easy 
money  from  Chip  and  his  friends,  had 
failed. 

In  a  few  weeks  Kuna  sold  the 
Wild  Horse  Claim  for  a  good  big  price, 
and  had  made  all  arrangements  to  take 
Oneida  and  her  parents  back  to  Myste 
rious  Valley,  on  the  Salmon  River.  Of 
course,  Chip  was  to  go  with  them.  They 
were  not  going  to  follow  the  river,  they 
were  going  across  the  mountains.  They 
made  camp  the  first  day  in  the  pass  of 
the  Sawtooth.  Here  on  this  summit  one 
can  throw  a  stone  down  into  the  waters 
of  the  South  Boise,  and  another  into 
the  waters  of  the  Salmon.  The  view 
down  the  Salmon  across  Stanley  Basin, 
is  a  magnificent  one.  It  was  mid-after- 
123 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

noon  and  Kuna  and  Oneida  had  climbed 
Bald  Eagle  Peak,  for  a  better  view. 
The  great  Basin  lay  out  before  them; 
they  could  look  down  the  valley  for  a 
hundred  miles.  It  was  one  of  those 
ideal  June  days,  with  soft  breezes  carry 
ing  the  scent  of  wild  flowers  up  to  them. 
"There,  Kuna,"  said  Oneida,  "is  one 
of  the  grandest  views  in  this  whole 
Northwest  country.  Such  a  profusion 
of  colors.  We  hear  sounds,  but  it  is 
only  the  eloquent  language  of  Nature. 
The  expanding  blossoms,  with  their 
sweet  fragrance,  reveal  more  of  life's 
real  worth,  than  all  else.  See  the  river 
sparkling  in  the  light,  casting  reflec 
tions  over  against  the  side  of  those 
rugged  mountains.  Little  white  clouds 
floating  up  yonder,  cast  shadows  over 
those  barren  peaks,  which  seem  to  reach 
the  sky,  making  a  picture  like  beautiful 
fairies  playing  hide  and  seek  among  the 

124 


THE  TRIAL— THEN  GOOD  BYE 

crags.  Over  there,  nestling  in  little 
basins,  are  the  lakes:  Alturas,  Petit, 
Stanley,  Redfish,  and  dozens  of  others. 
No,  we  cannot  see  them  from  here,  but 
we  know  they  are  there.  Waters  as 
clear  and  pure  as  dewdrops,  and  in  the 
two  larger,  Alturas  and  Redfish,  can  be 
seen  the  pretty  Redfish.  They  come  in 
the  last  of  June,  and  usually  stay  about 
three  months.  Where  they  come  from 
and  where  they  go,  no  one  can  tell.  No 
other  place  in  the  world  can  these  fish 
be  seen,  except  the  outlets  of  these  two 
lakes.  And,  the  same  sun  that  turns 
the  snows  of  those  mighty  mountains 
into  the  fairy  gems  of  those  lakes,  gives 
the  blush  and  tint  to  the  Sego  Lily  of 
the  Valley,  yonder.  The  scene  is  so 
pretty,  we  forget  the  other  moods.  These 
grand  old  mountains  which  seem  so 
peaceful,  are  at  times,  most  cruel.  Ah, 
my  boy,  the  storms,  I  know.  But  we 

125 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

will  not  dwell  on  that.  The  beauty,  the 
serenity,  and,  melody  of  it  all,  is  suffi 
cient  for  the  day.  Here  life  is  renewed, 
the  breezes  are  soft  and  balmy,  and  the 
gentle  sighing  of  the  pines  would  lull 
one  to  slumber.  The  peace  and  beauty 
of  it  all  must  be  seen  and  felt;  words 
fail  me  when  I  try  to  describe  it  But, 
oh,  Nika  tikeh  okoke,  Nika  tikeh  okoke 
konoway."  (I  love  it,  I  love  it  all.) 

Mysterious  Valley  was  reached  in  due 
time,  and  as  soon  as  the  papers  could  be 
made  out,  title  to  the  old  homestead 
passed  back  to  Uncle  John  and  Aunt 
Lucy.  The  mortgage,  which  had  long 
been  a  lien  on  the  Thomas  place  was 
paid  off.  Then  Oneida  told  Chip  of  their 
plans,  and  suggested  that  he  go  at  once, 
visit  his  folks,  and  bring  Becca  True 
home  with  him.  There  was  a  little  Red 
blood  in  Becca's  veins,  but  a  sweeter, 
kindlier  girl  would  have  been  hard  to 

126 


THE  TRIAL— THEN  GOOD  BYE 

find.  "You  know,  Chip  Chip,  there  is 
going  to  be  a  big  Home  Coming  time, 
and  there  will  be  a  double  wedding  if 
you  and  Becca  will  join." 

Yes,  he  would  do  it.  For  that  was 
what  prompted  him  to  run  away,  be 
cause  he  thought  he  could  find  Oneida, 
and  she  would  understand  and  help  him 
with  his  books.  She  and  Kuna  had  both 
assisted  him,  and  he  had  studied  hard, 
so  knew  that  he  had  made  some  prog 
ress.  Becca  had  been  gone  a  long  time, 
but  would  be  at  home  now.  She  and 
Oneida  were  the  warmest  friends,  for 
Becca  often  visited  the  Gipsy  camp  and 
they  would  make  long  trips  up  into  the 
hills  after  flowers.  They  loved  each 
other  as  sisters,  and  although  separated 
during  their  school  days,  their  love  had 
grown  stronger,  with  the  years.  When 
Chip  crossed  the  ridge  and  started 
around  her  father's  pasture,  Becca  saw 

127 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

him,  and  started  out  to  meet  him.  Chip 
dismounted  and  held  out  his  two  hands 
to  greet  her.  "Kloshe  okustee  klat 
yahka  lamontai,  puis  tenas  klak  nika 
etshum." 

"Oh,"  said  Becca,  "isn't  that  nice." 
Then  she  made  response:  "Beautiful 
daughter  of  the  Mountains,  and  child 
of  my  heart."  Then  as  she  gazed  up  at 
him,  he  read  the  message  in  those 
pretty  eyes,  and — understood. 

Chip  had  changed  so,  when  he  and 
Becca  reached  Mysterious  Valley  for 
the  big  celebration,  those  who  did  not 
know,  would  have  had  to  be  told  there 
was  even  a  trace  of  Indian  blood  in  their 
veins,  for,  their  manner,  dress,  actions, 
looks  and  language  was  the  same  as  the 
people  of  the  valley.  An  old  Indian 
woman  accompanied  them  across  the 
mountains,  "not  that  we  needed  a  chap- 
erone,  except  for  appearance  sake;  she 

128 


THE  TRIAL— THEN  GOOD  BYE 

is  to  be  our  housekeeper,"  said  Becca,  by 
way  of  explaining  the  presence  of  the 
old  woman. 

There  was  great  rejoicing  on  this 
Home  Coming  Day.  First  was  the 
double  wedding,  Kuna  and  Oneida,  and 
Chip  Chip  and  Becca.  Uncle  Henry,  as 
all  called  Kuna's  father,  was  the  prin 
cipal  speaker,  and  the  reminiscences  he 
related  that  day  would  seem  so  real  to 
our  old  Pioneers,  they  would  at  once 
recall  the  stirring  times  in  their  own 
lives.  We  then,  of  this  generation, 
listen  to  these  men  and  women,  and 
while  we  think  we  realize  what  they 
endured,  it  is  only  a  mental  picture  we 
see,  for  those  times  would  have  to  be 
Lived,  to  be  fully  understood. 


129 


XI 

MYSTERIOUS  VALLEY 
Twelve  years  later,  in  looking  down 
into  Mysterious  Valley,  we  see  two  well- 
kept  farms,  with  big,  fine  buildings, 
good,  substantial  fences  around  the 
places,  and  herds  of  thoroughbred  cattle 
and  horses.  Chip  Chip  and  Becca  own 
one  of  these  places,  the  Bruneau  ranch, 
which  they  purchased  from  Oneida's 
parents.  The  other  is  the  Thomas 
place  where  Kuna  and  Oneida  live. 
Uncle  John  and  Aunt  Lucy,  and  Uncle 
Henry  and  Aunt  Mary,  those  dear  old 
people  that  all  who  know  them  love 
them,  live  with  their  children,  Kuna 
and  Oneida.  There  are  others  in  this 
family  too :  Little  Oneida,  eleven  years 
old,  Kuna,  Jr.,  nine,  Becca,  seven,  and 
Chip,  five.  There  are  four  children  in 
the  other  family  also.  Chip,  Jr.,  Little 

131 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

Becca,  Kuna  and  Oneida.  They  are  al 
most  the  same  ages  as  the  Thomas  chil 
dren.  And  we  know,  too,  there  is  great 
love  and  friendship  in  these  two  fam 
ilies,  by  the  names  of  the  children. 

A  visit  to  the  home  of  Chip  and  family 
reveals  many  of  their  little  fancies  and 
peculiarities.  Generous,  —  you  know 
their  hospitality  is  as  real  and  genuine 
as  the  hills  that  wall  in  their  home. 
There  are  many  rare  "trophies  of  the 
hunt"  about  the  place,  all  arranged  with 
care  and  exceptionally  good  taste.  "Yes, 
we  have  our  peculiarities,"  said  Chip, 
"the  same  as  most  people.  We  have 
made  a  great  effort  to  overcome  those 
that  might  be  offensive  to  our  neighbors. 
The  hardest  fight  we  had  was  to  fully 
forgive  those  that  had  wronged  us.  But, 
following  the  teachings  of  our  Savior, 
we  have  succeeded  pretty  well.  Yes,  we 
taught  our  children  to  speak  the  Koo- 

132 


MYSTERIOUS  VALLEY 

tenai  jargon;  it  will  help  them  some 
time.  But  you  know  there  are  about 
fifty  Indian  languages  —  some  claim 
more  than  that  —  in  use  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  There  are  as  many 
languages  as  there  are  tribes,  and  they 
differ  as  widely  as  English  and  Dutch. 
But  as  the  tribes  bunch  and  mingle — 
you  know  they  are  getting  fewer  all 
the  time — their  talk  becomes  a  jargon, 
not  only  a  mixture  of  Indian  tongues, 
but  French  and  English  grafted  on  'til 
pretty  nearly  all  the  Coast  Indians  now 
understand  each  other.  And  there  is  a 
universal  sign  language  that  all  In 
dians  understand.  Becca  and  I  have 
been  told  there  is  a  trace  of  Kootenai 
blood  in  our  veins,  but  we  did  not  put 
it  there,  if  there  is,  so  we  do  not  worry 
about  that.  Until  we  were  nearly  grown 
we  lived,  you  might  say,  with  the  Koo- 
tenai's.  We  dressed  much  the  same  as 

133 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

they  did  and  maybe  our  habits  were 
some  like  theirs,  too.  We  found  out 
later  the  mistake  we  had  made,  for  it 
took  us  a  long  time  to  rid  ourselves  of 
the  habits  and  manners  of  our  early 
life.  The  Indian  garb  I  wore  over  in 
the  Sawtooth  country  was  the  same  as 
all  the  men  wore  around  our  home  place, 
but  it  did  not  take  well  with  some  I  met 
up  with,  so  caused  me  no  end  of  trouble. 
And,  you  know  there  is  one  thing  that 
has,  since  we  grew  up,  caused  us  no  little 
annoyance.  Why  should  we  have  been 
falsely  accused  and  made  to  suffer  for 
something  we  were  not  responsible  for, 
even  though  there  is  Red  blood  in  our 
veins,  it's  honest  blood,  and  we  claim 
our  share  of  human  nature.  We  never 
wronged  anyone.  I  have  had  to  fight 
my  way,  but  never  did  I  go  hunting  for 
a  scrap.  And,  I  will  tell  you  further, 
I  have  never  run  away  from  a  scrap, 

134 


MYSTERIOUS  VALLEY 

either,  when  it  appeared  that  the  other 
fellow  would  not  be  satisfied  without  it. 
Then  it's  wrong,  too,  all  wrong,  for  a 
man  to  have  to  go  about  denying  things 
that  careless,  tattling,  unprincipled  per 
sons  say  about  him.  A  shrug  of  the 
shoulders,  a  little  word,  maybe;  and  you 
know  everything  was  small  at  one  time 
and  had  to  grow,  so  this  little  word 
about  the  character  of  you  or  some  mem 
ber  of  you  family  grows,  'til  it  gets  so 
big  you  are  likely  to  lose  your  temper 
when  you  meet  up  with  the  person  that 
started  it." 

"That  is  a  picture  of  Jim  Worth," 
said  he,  as  he  saw  me  looking  at  the 
familiar  face;  those  kindly  eyes  looking 
back  at  me  as  though  they  recognized 
me.  "Sure  you  know  him;  everybody 
in  Idaho  does.  He  defended  me  for 
killing  Redwolf  Jess.  I  was  just  wait 
ing  to  tell  the  court  about  that  shyster 

135 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

lawyer  coming  to  the  jail  and  offering 
to  dismiss  the  case  if  I  would  give  him 
a  thousand  dollars.  I  turned  him  down, 
and  there  would  have  been  a  murder 
charge  against  me  that  might  have 
stuck  if  the  sheriff  hadn't  pried  my 
hands  loose  from  the  fellow's  neck.  But 
Kuna  told  Jim,  so  he  beat  me  to  it,  and 
scared  those  fellows  so  badly  they  are 
probably  running  yet,  and  that  was 
several  years  ago.  But  I  have  forgiven 
them  and  hope  they  have  all  reformed. 
Our  children  are  up  at  Kuna's,  so  you 
will  see  them  when  you  go  up  there. 
They  are  either  up  there,  or  the  Thomas 
children  are  down  here.  We  have  no 
school  house  in  here,  so  Oneida  and 
Becca  take  turn  about,  sort  o'  fifty-fifty, 
as  it  were,  teaching  them.  You  are  to 
go  up  there  now,  so  Becca  and  I  will 
go  along.  It  isn't  far,  so  we  visit  a 
great  deal." 

136 


MYSTERIOUS  VALLEY 

Then  the  visit  with  Kuna  and  Oneida. 
They,  too,  had  only  kind  words  for  all, 
forgetting  the  past  and  forgiving  those 
who  had  wronged  them.  I  know  you 
have  been  waiting  for  me  to  tell  you 
more  about  these  two  women  that  we 
have  been  visiting  with,  and  by  this  time 
learned  to  love.  How  they  looked,  color 
of  hair,  eyes,  their  size,  and  all.  Well, 
they  were  medium  size,  brunette,  with  a 
world  of  dark  hair,  and  dark  eyes.  This 
then  is  all  I  shall  tell  you.  Close  your 
eyes  and  paint  a  picture  to  suit  your 
fancy,  and  look  on  two  charming  Idaho 
women,  standing  there  in  their  Valley 
homes,  surrounded  by  hills  covered  with 
wild  flowers,  and  you  should  be  able  to 
see  Oneida  and  Becca. 

"Here,"  said  Oneida,  "are  the  rules, 
so  don't  forget.  You  see  we  call  each 
other  by  the  first  name,  no  Mr.  or  Mrs. 
in  our  language  when  we  are  alone. 

137 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

You  will  not  be  shocked  then  the  way 
we  address  each  other,  for  'familiarity 
breeds  no  contempt'  in  Mysterious  Val 
ley.  Sure,  I  know  what  you  are  think 
ing  about  now.  I  read  your  thoughts 
when  I  mentioned  that  name.  I  can't 
tell  it  as  it  should  be  told,  for  Mysterious 
Valley,  so-called,  has  a  wonderful  his 
tory  if  we  are  to  believe  the  Indian 
legend  that  has  been  handed  down  to  us. 
Old  Comealong  Jerry,  we  know  no  other 
name  for  him,  and  come  to  think  about 
it,  that  does  him  as  well  as  any,  should 
be  here  to  tell  the  story.  He  knows  it 
all,  and  has  told  it  so  often  that  our 
attempts  to  relate  it  with  all  the  flour 
ishes  and  sign  talk,  is  like  mere  child's 
play,  as  it  were.  Little  Oneida  tells  the 
story  very  well,  so  when  she  comes  out 
she  will  play  the  part  of  Comealong. 
The  old  man  was  living  here  in  that 
same  little  cabin,  when,  what  we  call 

138 


MYSTERIOUS  VALLEY 

the  first  settlers  arrived,  but  that  is 
about  all  we  know.  If  we  had  a  'rubber 
neck  wagon/  as  we  have  heard  them 
called,  we  would  take  you  on  a  sight 
seeing  trip,  and  the  old  man's  place 
down  there  would  be  one  of  the  sights 
shown  you.  And,  I  think  we  could  pre 
vail  on  Becca  to  act  as  'barker.'  But 
we  can't  get  down  there  today,  so  you 
will  miss  seeing  the  old  man,  and  also 
miss  hearing  the  story  as  he  tells  it,  for 
no  one  can  tell  it  quite  so  well.  He  al 
ways  takes  three  chews  of  tobacco  while 
telling  it,  whittles,  and  at  regular  in 
tervals,  stops  to  chew,  discharging  the 
tobacco  juice,  and  wipes  his  mouth  and 
long  white  beard  with  the  back  of  his 
hand.  Come,  daughter,  get  a  stick  and 
daddy's  knife,  and  give  us  Comealong's 
story  of  Mysterious  Valley." 

"Tamahnawus  Coolee,  wus  the  name 
the  Injuns  give  thisher'  valley  a  long 

139 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

time  ago.  They  used  to  hoi'  their  big 
feasts  here  in  the  fall  o'  the  year  on 
'count  o'  the  'bundance  o'  game  an'  fish. 
It  wus  a  sort  o'  rend'voo  fer  all  the 
tribes  in  the  state.  An'  they'd  all  come 
to  these  big  meetin's.  Gamblin',  mostly 
hoss  racin',  wus  the  principal  pastime, 
an'  when  a  bunch  'ud  go  broke,  they'd 
bet  their  gals,  some  o'  them  young  wim- 
en,  on  a  race.  'Course  the  gals  'ud  run 
away  the  fust  chance  they  got,  but  that 
didn't  do  'em  much  good,  fer  then  'ud 
come  the  fight  over  the  ownership  o'  the 
stakes.  This,  o'  course,  'ud  make  'em 
wus  enemies  as  they  wus  afore,  an'  that 
wus  sayin'  a  great  deal.  Wall,  by'mby, 
stead  o'  this  bein'  a  sort  o'  Summer 
Pleasure  Resort,  as  it  were,  it  'comes  a 
great  battle  field.  Nobuddy'll  ever 
know  how  many  Injuns  has  bin  killed 
an'  scalped  an'  throwed  over  the  bluff 
into  the  river  yonder.  This  fightin'  an' 

140 


MYSTERIOUS  VALLEY 

scalpin'  bis'ness  keeps  up  'til  'bout  the 
time  I  comes  here.  An'  that  wus  'bout 
the  time  the  hants  begin.  Yas,  Gos's, 
Tamahnawus  is  the  Injun  name  fer 
wichcraft,  spirits,  an'  Mamook  Tam 
ahnawus  is  to  conjure,  er  make  strange 
medicine.  Jist  at  the  time  the  fust  gos's 
appear,  three  young  Injun  braves  comes 
out  o'  the  north  an'  'rects  a  big  totem 
pole,  there,  look  right  over  yonder  an' 
you'll  see  the  big  boulder,  right  thar  is 
whar  they  puts  it  up.  Over  on  that 
side  wus  three  big  pine  trees,  an'  over 
on  this  side  by  the  little  boulder,  stood 
three  big  cedars.  Each  character  on 
the  totem  wus  carved  three  times.  Then 
these  three  braves  goes  back  over  the 
mountain  to  the  Blackfeet's  village  an' 
steals  er  kidnaps  three  Injun  gals  an' 
makes  their  escape  over  here  in  this 
valley,  but  it  wus  dark  an'  they  wus  a- 
ridin'  fast  so  they  lost  their  bearin's  an' 

141 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

rides  over  the  bluff  an'  plunges  into  the 
river,  two  hundred  feet  below.  'Course 
they  wus  all  drowned.  Then  comes  the 
real,  shore  'nuff  mystery.  Thar  now, 
don't  ye  go  to  gittin'  figgitty;  thar  aint 
nothin'  goin'  to  creep  up  yore  back  'less 
it's  the  coP  chills  er  sumpin',  'cause  it 
all  comes  in  threes.  Any  stormy  night 
the  watchers  'ud  go  up  there  on  the  bluff 
by  the  totem  pole,  at  three  o'clock  o'  the 
mawnin',  they'd  see  three  Injun  gals 
walk  right  'cross  the  canyon;  go  right 
over  from  one  bluff  to  the  other,  an' 
thar  wus  no  rope  ner  bridge  ner  nothin' 
— jist  the  same  as  it  is  right  thar  now. 
Three  little  lights  'ud  be  on  their  fore 
heads,  so.  As  soon  as  the  gals  'ud  git 
over,  three  big  owls  'ud  fly  over  after 
'em  an'  each  one  'ud  hoot  three  times. 
A  big  storm  had  broke  the  top  out  o'  one 
o'  the  big  pines,  but  it  fell  into  the  forks 
o'  the  other  trees  so  the  rosined  limbs 

142 


MYSTERIOUS  VALLEY 

'ud  screech  three  times  as  the  wind 
swayed  'em  back  an*  forth.  The  tops 
o'  the  cedars  wus  dead,  so  the  wood 
peckers  bored  'em  full  o'  holes  an'  these 
'ud  jine  in,  makin'  three  whistles ;  allus 
three  sharp  whistles.  Next  'ud  come 
three  white  hosses  out  o'  the  north  an' 
disappear  over  the  bluff,  an'  go  down 
jist  as  the  braves  an'  the  three  gals  did. 
Strange  lights  'ud  be  seen,  in  little 
flashes,  thataway,  allus  three  little 
flashes.  The  coyotes  allus  give  three 
howls,  an'  the  mountain  lion  'ud  take  up 
the  echo  an'  give  three  mighty  roars. 
Then  'ud  come  a  voice  cryin'  out  o'  the 
darkness,  '0  Sahhalee  Tyee  Polakly, 
marsh  siah  kopa  nesika  konoway  me- 
sahchee.'  (0,  Great  Father  (of  the) 
Night,  put  far  away  from  us  all  evil.) 
Three  times  could  we  hear  this  cry.  An' 
I've  heer'd  an'  seen  all  this  an'  more, 
an'  kin  p'int  out  the  places.  Why  ev'ry- 

143 


A  ROMANCE  OP  THE  SAWTOOTH 

thin'  in  three's,  ye  ask?  I  dunno,  I 
dunno.  Klone,  hias,  huloimee  —  three, 
the  Great  Mystery.  It  might  mean 
Youth,  Manhood  an'  Age,  er  Life,  Death 
an'  the  World  to  Come.  Klone,  hias, 
huloimee." 

I  must  have  been  thinking  of  the 
Great  Mystery,  screeching  pines,  or 
whistling  cedars,  or  something,  after 
little  Oneida  finished  the  story,  for  when 
she  awakened  me  from  my  reverie  by 
giving  one  of  my  hands  a  jerk,  all  had 
left  and  were  almost  to  the  house.  The 
little  girl  and  I  had  been  left  behind. 
We  went  for  a  walk,  for  I  was  glad  to 
get  away  so  I  could  shake  off  that 
"creepy  feeling." 

"Those  are  Chip's  old  six  shooters," 
said  Oneida,  as  we  reached  the  house, 
"those  up  there  on  the  big  elk  head.  He 
never  has  those  Tlayful  Moods'  any 
more,  so  doesn't  tote  them  around.  And 

144 


MYSTERIOUS  VALLEY 

this  is  the  old  buckskin  belt  he  gave  my 
parents  the  second  time  he  went  up  to 
see  them  for  me.  I  never  knew  any 
thing  about  it  'til  we  came  down  here, 
and  might  not  have  known  then,  but  he 
refused  to  take  it  back.  It  was  full  of 
twenty  dollar  gold  pieces,  and  I  think 
there  are  a  few  of  the  original  pieces 
in  there  yet.  Yes,  Becca  and  I  are  the 
school  teachers.  My  school  room  is  off 
the  children's  sleeping  rooms.  You  may 
have  a  look  in  there  a  little  later.  No, 
there  are  no  mysterious  things  in  there; 
that  is,  no  screeching  pines  or  whistling 
cedars.  But  wait.  I  am  not  going  to 
tell  you  of  the  children's  plans.  It  is 
nothing  out  of  the  ordinary  for  us ;  you 
could  see  the  same  scene  any  night  when 
they  are  all  ready  for  bed. 


145 


XII 

THE  LORD'S  PRAYER  IN 
CHINOOK 

After  supper  that  evening,  all  took 
turns  at  story  telling,  and  the  reminis 
cences  were  so  interesting  to  me  that  I 
almost  lost  track  of  the  time.  It  was 
one  of  those  ideal  summer  evenings  and 
everything  seemed  so  pretty  and  peace 
ful,  that  one  could  scarcely  believe  that 
the  hills  all  covered  with  a  profusion  of 
wild  flowers,  could  have  ever  been  the 
scene  of  the  great  battles  fought  by  the 
Indians  in  earlier  days.  But  it  must 
have  been,  there  was  the  evidence  in  the 
Valley,  on  the  hillsides — everywhere. 

"Don't  look  so  serious  about  it,"  said 
Becca,  "we  have  only  told  the  stories  as 
they  were  told  to  us.  Your  mood  re 
minds  me  a  little  of  a  fellow  who  came 
in  here  last  summer,  goodness  only 

147 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

knows  how  he  found  the  way,  we  don't, 
but  he  got  in  here  somehow  and  was 
looking  for  material  for  a  story.  He 
wanted  Catch  Phrases,  and  Home  Made 
Philosophy,  enough,  we  thought,  for  a 
half-dozen  stories,  had  he  been  able  to 
draw  anything  from  his  imaginative 
powers,  if  he  had  any;  so  we  got  very 
tired  of  him.  He  would  follow  Chip 
about  day  after  day ;  he  wanted  a  Catch 
Phrase  for  his  book.  Chip  couldn't 
stand  his  annoyance  any  longer,  so  gave 
him  this  one:  'Anah  klatawa  kopa 
Peshak  pekahta  iskum  wawa.'  The 
fellow  was  overjoyed  with  it,  it  sounded 
so  nice  he  had  it  all  wrote  out;  little 
Chip  helped  him  with  it,  but  when  he 
asked  the  lad  to  say  it  over  in  our  lan 
guage,  packed  up  his  grips  and  left. 
Sure  I'll  tell  you  what  it  means:  'Ah, 

go  to  h for  Catch  Phrases.'  The  last 

time  we  were  out,  we  went  to  Nampa, 

148 


LORD'S  PRAYER  IN  CHINOOK 

and  stopped  at  Mayor  Bob  Davis'  big 
hotel,  certainly  the  finest  and  best  hos 
telry  in  the  entire  West.  We  saw  this 
fellow  there,  but  he  did  not  bother  us 
anymore  about  Catch  Phrases.  He  left 
for  the  East  while  we  were  there;  per 
haps  he  was  taking  the  one  Chip  gave 
him  home  to  show  to  his  friends.  Now 
you  have  not  annoyed  us ;  you  have  been 
so  agreeable  we  want  you  to  come  again. 
You  looked  so  serious  for  a  time,  that 
your  mood  reminded  me  of  the  Catch 
Phrase  fellow,  so  I  simply  had  to  tell 
the  story." 

"I  am  nearly  always  serious,"  I  re 
plied,  "and  when  you  spoke  about  it  I 
was  trying  to  get  all  these  matters  right 
in  my  mind.  And  the  evening  has 
passed  so  quickly,  too;  here  it  is  bed 
time." 

"Yes,"  said  Oneida,  "it's  bed  time, 
for  the  children.  They  and  the  grand- 

149 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

parents  left  the  room  some  time  ago, 
but  you  were  so  interested  in  Becca's 
story  of  the  Catch  Phrase  fellow  (he 
never  told  us  his  name),  and  her  talk 
on  the  mad  rush  for  wealth  and  the 
neglect  of  the  higher  and  broader  edu 
cation,  that  you  did  not  miss  them.  But 
you  got  back  to  the  Valley,  as  it  were, 
for  when  Becca  said  people  who  devoted 
all  their  time  to  getting  money,  never 
giving  a  thought  to  the  poor,  should  turn 
and  read  again  the  thirteenth  chapter 
of  Corinthians,  'Paul's  Description  of 
Charity/  you  replied  that  maybe  it 
would  help  you  to  read  it  also,  then 
asked  her  what  she  said.  You  may 
come  now,  the  children  have  everything 
arranged,  all  ready  for  you  to  look  into 
their  school  room.  They  all  speak  the 
Indian  Jargon,  are  ready  for  bed,  so  it's 
time  for  evening  prayer." 

The  folding  doors  were  then  pushed 

150 


LORD'S  PRAYER  IN  CHINOOK 

back  and  I  looked  on  a  scene  I  shall 
never  forget.  It  was  not  only  pretty, 
it  was  Sublime. 

Out  from  the  wall,  so  there  was  space 
to  pass  behind,  one  in  each  corner  of 
the  room,  sat  the  four  grand  parents, 
facing  the  center  of  the  room.  On  each 
side  of  the  room,  and  equal  distance  be 
tween  the  old  folks,  were  chairs  for  the 
parents,  Kuna,  Oneida,  Chip  and  Becca. 
I  was  left  standing  in  the  door,  directly 
behind  Oneida.  Seven  candles,  held  by 
a  carved  cedar  bowl,  lighted  the  room. 
The  children  all  had  their  night  robes 
on;  the  seven  youngest,  kneeling  in  a 
half-circle  facing  the  door  where  I 
stood.  Little  Oneida  was  kneeling  down 
in  front  of,  and  facing  the  other  chil 
dren.  Then  with  heads  bowed,  they  all 
repeated  the  Lord's  Prayer.  Little 
Oneida  led  with  the  Indian  version,  the 
others  making  response,  as  given  below : 

151 


A  ROMANCE  OF  THE  SAWTOOTH 

Nesika    Papa    klaxta    mitlite    kopa 
Our    Father    who    dwellest    in  the 

Sahalee,   kloshe  kopa  nesika  tumtum 
above,      sacred      in      our  hearts  (be) 

mika  nem.    Nesika  hiyu  tikeh  chahco 
Thy  name.       We  greatly    long       the 

mika      illahee,      Mamook  mika  kloshe 
coming  of  Thy  Kingdom.  Do  Thy  good 

tumtum    kopa    okoke    illahee   kahkwa 
will         with       this     world       as  also 

kopa    Shalee.      Potlatch  konaway  sun 
in  the  heavens.      Give  us      day  by-day 

nesika     muckamuck;        pee       mahlee 
our        bread;        and    remember    not 

konaway   nesika   mesahchee,    kahkwa 
all       our       wickedness,       even       as 

nesika  mamook  kopa   klaska    spose 
we    do    also      with    others    if  they 

mamook  mesahchee  kopa  nesika.  Wake 
do       evil       unto       ourselves.        Not 

152 


LORD'S  PRAYER  IN  CHINOOK 

lolo  nesika  kopa  peshak,  pee      marsh 
bring    us    into   danger,  but    put  far 

siah  kopa  nesika  konaway  mesahchee. 
away  from      us          all  evil. 

Kloshe  kahkwa. 
So  may  it  be. 


Mes-see,  Nika  mitlite  wa  wa. 


153 


Blue  Eye 


BY      OGAL      ALLA 

A  Story  of  the  People 
of  the  Plains 

T'HE  Sunday  Oregonian,  Port 
land,  Ore.,  in  reviewing  this 
book,  said:  "If  he  intends  to  write 
other  novels  and  will  write  them 
as  interestingly  as  he  has  'Blue 
Eye/  we  shall  have  a  western 
novelist  amoug  us  who  will  bring 
honor  to  the  entire  west." 


PRICE  BY  MAIL,  $1.00 

OGAL   ALLA 

Nampa,  Idaho 


